


Falling

by FantasiaWandering



Series: Falling [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-05 01:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 133,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1801021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasiaWandering/pseuds/FantasiaWandering
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donatello caught her twice that night. So why did she still feel like she was falling? In the aftermath of her abduction and rescue from the Kraang, April O'Neil reflects on how her life has changed forever. But can she face the coming challenges alone?</p>
<p>A side-story following the adventures of the Turtles and their new friend during season one of TMNT, including both "episode" style stories, and smaller moments of character interaction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note to anyone reading "Falling" for the first time - the first two chapters are really me just trying to figure out what I was doing, retelling the first episode from two different perspectives that I was really hoping for in the pilot, but didn't get. If you want the original stuff, you probably want to skip to Chapter 3, the "From the Sewer" prologue.
> 
> There are generally two types of "story" in Falling. "From the Sewer" and "History Bites" are longer episodes, but they're broken up by "interludes", which are short, one-shot, character-driven pieces if you don't feel like settling in for the long haul. Thank you for reading

**Falling: Prologue**

* * *

The shifting lights of the city outside sent unfamiliar shadows dancing across the walls of the room she hadn't really slept in since she was a child. The long summer stays at her aunt's house had dwindled as she had grown older, grown more fascinated by her father's work. Now, there was little left in the corner bedroom, which brimmed with trinkets and knickknacks from her aunt's own childhood, that reminded April of home.

Her aunt had meant well when she ordered April to bed, but April hadn't bothered changing into her pyjamas. Sleep wasn't coming anytime soon. So she lay in the dark room, watching the shadows, finally understanding what it meant to be completely and utterly alone.

It had all gone wrong so quickly. One moment she was walking with her father, laughing at his corny jokes, and the next, the whole world had come crashing down around her…

* * *

_The screech of tires shattered the moment as the van pulled up in front of them, blocking their path. The van doors opened, disgorging a man who appeared to have only a passing acquaintance with the notion of showering and… quadruplets? In business suits?_

" _What is this…" her father began, but he didn't finish his thought. Kirby grasped the situation a fraction of a second before April did, throwing his arm in front of her in a futile gesture of protection as the four identical men advanced on them._

They've come to take us…  _The thought popped unbidden into April's head, and fear turned her insides to ice. She gasped and grabbed at her father's arm. In another moment, the men were on top of them. Cold hands hard as steel gripped her arms, and she was torn away from the safety of her father._

" _Let go of her!"_

_April's eyes widened. She had never heard that kind of anger in her father's voice before. One of the quadruplets released his hold on her arm, though she had only a moment of freedom before the unwashed guy grabbed her. He wasn't as cold as the emotionless statue holding her other arm, but his grip was just as unbreakable as she pulled against him with all she was worth._

_Her father lunged at the goon who had been holding her, and his hand connected with a sickening crunch. As her father reeled, clasping his hand, April gaped in disbelief. All her father's strength behind the punch, and the goon hadn't even flinched. April watched in horror as the creep pulled his arm back and hit her father square in the jaw. Kirby reeled, and April bucked against the hands holding her, shaking off the shock and finding her voice again._

" _Help!" she screamed as the goon marched her dazed father toward the back of the van. A cruel shove sent Kirby to his knees, and April screamed again. "Help!"_

_The last remaining goon picked her father up by his collar, and April could do nothing but watch helplessly as Kirby slipped into unconsciousness. The goon flung him into the back of the van like a limp rag doll. April's voice caught in her throat again. From where she stood, she couldn't even see him moving. She had no idea if he was alive or… or…_

_The goon holding her drew back on her arm, tearing April's gaze away from the van, and she knew in that moment that the same fate was waiting for her. She tensed, waiting for the blow to come. This whole time, none of them had said even one word about what they wanted…_

" _Hey!"_

_A new voice, young and gruff, shattered the eerily quiet scene. The goon grabbed her away from the unwashed guy, and she lost sight of the van. Behind them came the unmistakable sound of fighting. A good Samaritan come to their rescue? It didn't matter. April wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; she started struggling again with every ounce of strength left in her._

_The goon didn't even acknowledge her efforts. He reached down and flung her over one shoulder, pinning her legs in a vice grip. "Hey, cut it out!" She pounded on his back as hard as she could. "Stop! OW!" His grip was practically crushing her as he headed back toward the van. "Let go of me!"_

_Something flew past her and collided with the goon's back with the force of a speeding freight train. The goon toppled, and April found herself hurtling uncontrollably through the air. Panic stopped her breath in her lungs as she pinwheeled, trying futilely to brace for the inevitable crunch as she impacted against the pavement._

_Only the impact never came._

" _Gotcha!"_

_Large, impossibly strong hands cradled her beneath her shoulders and knees. April realized belatedly that she wasn't falling anymore. That someone had caught her. Bewildered, April looked up into the face of her rescuer._

Oh…my…God…

 _April screamed, and the… the_ thing _holding her screamed back, dropping her hard to the ground. April scooted backward despite the pain in her backside as the creature recoiled from her. It recovered quickly, though, and reached out toward her._

" _No, no, no. No, don't worry, we're the good guys."_

 _Its hands – green,_ three-fingered  _hands – were covered with scales. April screamed again. She pushed herself back across the pavement, but the creature followed her, looming over her, reaching for her._

" _It's okay," it said. Despite everything, its tone was gentle, like it was trying to soothe a frightened puppy. God, its voice was so… so normal. It sounded just like any other teenage boy. Any other green-skinned, masked, mutant boy…_

Forget that.  _April turned, attempting to lurch to her feet as the thing pursued her, only to be brought up short by the threat she had forgotten._

Oh, right. Goons.

_The expressionless men advanced, their hands crooked into claws, reaching out like something out of a zombie movie, their faces still coldly impassive. April turned again, her heart pounding, the fear welling in her so strong she could barely think. Barely breathe. The creature had stopped moving toward her, and it held out that strange, green, impossibly strong hand._

_And smiled at her._

_For the first time, April looked, really_ looked, _into its eyes. Warm brown stared back at her, and strangely, unlike the suited goons who looked at her with absolutely nothing behind their cold and empty eyes, there was something very…_ human _behind the purple mask. Slowly, impossibly slowly, April's hand began to drift toward the creature's._

 _It still didn't move. It - no,_ he -  _was waiting for her to make the first contact._

_Another one of the creatures landed behind the first, this one wearing orange. April flinched, and her would-be rescuer glanced over his shoulder to see what had frightened her, only to get the orange one's weapon square across the face. In the moment it took for her rescuer to glower at the newcomer as he stammered out an apology, the goons struck._

" _Watch out," the orange one cried. April cringed as one of the goons flew toward her rescuer and delivered a powerful kick to the middle of his… wait, was that a shell?_

_A second later, April found herself grabbed from behind. Before she could think to scream, the goons had managed to gag her. Something cold was locked around her wrists and she was tossed into the van next to the inert body of her father. April struggled to sit up, hindered by her bound hands, and for a brief moment, her gaze locked with that of her creature as he lay sprawled atop the other in a pile of garbage. His eyes widened, and he was on his feet so fast she could barely track his movement, sprinting toward her, reaching out with that strange, scaled hand._

_Then the van doors slammed, and she was alone…_

* * *

April sat up, sighing. She couldn't keep lying here, alone in the dark. Moving quietly, aware that her aunt would be listening for restlessness, April moved to the shelf and picked up the radio that had been her companion during those summer stays in her childhood. Even then, she hadn't had many close friends; most of the girls her age had been interested in dolls and makeup, and she'd just wanted to blow things up with her chemistry set. After the first conflagration, the other parents had learned to keep their kids clear of her, though the pile of melted doll parts had been awfully neat…

Shaking her head at the memory, April undid the latch and pushed the big window open. Her aunt had always had conniptions when she caught April sneaking out to the fire escape. That had never stopped her, though. It was soothing out here, where she could think without interruption, save for the friendly chatter of the little radio. She turned it on, the volume low, and almost immediately thought about turning it off again. It was still tuned to the news channel she had regularly listened to when she was younger – she'd always liked the news. She'd even thought of being a news reporter someday, if she didn't end up becoming a scientist like her dad. Somewhere in the back of her mind now was the idea that if she listened closely to the news reports, she might hear something that everyone else would take for normal New York weirdness, but for those who knew the truth… for those who were on the lookout for things that might be related to alien brains in robot bodies…

But all anyone could talk about was the mysterious ninja clan rumoured to be floating around the city. If only they knew…

* * *

" _We found them!"_

_April would never have imagined that the emotion that would fill her on seeing that strange green masked face again would be relief, but there it was. And what's more, he'd been looking for them. And he'd brought the others with him._

_Strange emotions had stirred within her as she watched the creature – Donatello – try to hotwire the door. How exactly did you thank someone for risking his life to break into an alien fortress to rescue you when your first response to seeing his face was to scream in it? But he hadn't been fast enough. The aliens had come through the second door, and before Donatello and his brother could get through the lock, April and Kirby were being dragged off again._

_She had tried to fight them. It seemed even more futile now that they knew about the robotic strength of their captors, but she had tried anyway. Anything to give the creatures – no, the turtles – time to reach them. But it hadn't worked. Some kind of monster had barred the turtles' way before they could reach April and Kirby, and April didn't even have it in her to be surprised anymore._ Plant monster. Of course.

_A helicopter waited on the roof. Once they were in that, there was no hope of tracking them. This was it. They were going to vanish, and nobody would ever find them again. As the rotors whirred to life, she twisted in her captor's grip for one last glimpse at her would-be rescuer. On the field below, Donatello was staring at her, and even from the roof, she could read the dismay in his face. He was too far away. She was lost._

_The robot holding her wasn't gentle as he shoved her into the helicopter after her father, and the humming weapon in the hands of another dissuaded any further protest she might have made. As the rotors reached full speed, April looked out, defeated, at the city they were leaving behind – and froze._

_Donatello was on the roof._

_April gasped and pressed her hand against the window as the helicopter lifted off. He had been so close… but he wasn't finished. As the gap between the helicopter and the roof widened, Donatello was running after them, his weapon in his hands, and as he reached the end of the roof, he used the staff to fling himself off the edge._

_Time slowed as he drifted across the space between them, and April watched, unable to breathe lest it shatter the moment…_

_His hand locked around one of the helicopter's landing skids._

_Her breath left her in a rush. He was insane. He had to be. But hope began to fill her again. The goons in the cabin with them, both human and robot, looked at each other. They hadn't said anything, but the robot with the weapon rose from its seat and threw open the door._

" _Oh good," April heard from below the door. "For a second there I thought this was gonna be too easy!"_

 _Despite the fact that she was shaking in terror, a hysterical laugh escaped her. The goon opposite her looked her way, and she bit her lip. She turned her gaze to her father. She didn't dare say anything, but she hoped her look could speak for her._ We're going to be okay.

_Then the robot started firing._

_April's eyes widened in horror, but in another second, a green blur swung out over the door and Donatello's foot connected with the robot's head. It left something behind, embedded deep in the metal skull. As the robot faltered, Donatello's legs wrapped around its neck and yanked it from the helicopter._

_April gaped. That… was incredible._

_But impalement through the skull wasn't enough to defeat the robot. Even as it fell, it continued to fire at Donatello. April heard his cries as he fought to maintain his hold on the skid, but the shots were going wide now, striking the helicopter, and the goon piloting it began to lose control. The helicopter pitched wildly, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself thrown from the cabin._

_She screamed, and somehow managed to catch the edge of the door as she toppled forward. She dangled helplessly into space, and as the helicopter continued to careen through the sky, her gaze met with Donatello's one more time. His face mirrored her fear. "Hold on!" he called. "I'm coming!"_

_She tried. She really did. But her fingers slipped from the edge, and with a cry, she tumbled through space._

_The fall took an eternity. Long enough for her to remember how happy she'd been with her father, and how much she regretted that she'd never see him again. Was this her life flashing before her eyes? She closed them, bracing for the end. They'd been so high, with the unforgiving concrete of the roof below them. There was no surviving this one._ Thank you, Donatello, _she thought at the very end._ You tried.

_She heard a grunt of pain somewhere beside and slightly below her._

No way- _was all she had time to think before something slammed into her and she was no longer falling, but hurtling sideways. Her eyes flew open, but she already knew the feel of the hands that held her close against the solid safety of a terrapin shell. Her arms wrapped around Donatello's neck as he turned the fall into a controlled tumble, and she pressed her head against him, unable to tell up from down as he flipped across the levels of the building, shielding her from the impact with his shell._

_At last, they skidded to a stop, both of them panting and short of breath. April could barely feel her limbs, she was shaking so hard. She finally dared to open her eyes again, and found him staring at her._

Wait, did he just jump off of a helicopter for me?

 _He could have been killed…_ should  _have been killed, but he'd saved them both. And the first thing out of his mouth wasn't concern for himself._

" _You okay?"_

_In that moment, she realized the truth. He hadn't come for April and her father._

_He'd come for_ her _._

_And as they watched the helicopter fly away without them, she had room in her mind for only one thought._

" _Dad…"_

* * *

She hadn't thanked him. She hadn't known how. How did you thank someone for breaking into an alien stronghold  _and then_  jumping off of a helicopter for you? And after she'd stopped shaking enough that he could set her on her feet, there hadn't been time.

* * *

_Donatello kept a hand on her arm to steady her as he set her back on her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, though she didn't really know what was about to come out, when a horrible shriek reached them. In the chaos, she'd completely forgotten about the monster._

" _Oh yeah," Donatello said sheepishly, and grabbed his stick-thing from where it had fallen after his vault from the roof. "We'd better go see if they need help." He glanced over his shoulder. "The other Kraang are still out there, too."_

" _The what?"_

" _The brain robots." He looked at her, and her fear must have been written on her face, because his expression softened. "Stay close and stay behind me. I promise I won't let them take you again."_

 _The monster made another one of those horrible noises as Donatello sprinted toward the fight, April following as fast as she could. She got the feeling he was deliberately slowing down so that she could keep up. "What_  is _that thing?" she panted._

" _Well," he said, not even winded, "it used to be Snake." He glanced at her and took in her expression. "The jerk who drove the van."_

_They rounded the corner, and April got her first really good look at what had happened to the unwashed creep. Donatello halted, bringing April up beside him, and commented on what the others were doing, but April couldn't look away from the monster. It was awful. His limbs were twisted beyond recognition, and barely any trace of his humanity remained. But April couldn't find it in herself to be sorry._

_The Kraang at least had the excuse of being alien. Snake had been as human as she was, and he'd hurt her and her father anyway. As the thing that had been Snake hit the overloading power generator and exploded in a shower of plant parts, she couldn't help thinking that he'd gotten what he deserved…_

* * *

There still hadn't been time to thank him after that. Before the pieces of Snake had finished hitting the ground, the other turtles had joined them; then all their focus had been on getting out of the compound. Donatello had introduced her to his brothers as they fled.

April rested her cheek on her knees, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she went over them in her head.

Leonardo. So serious in his role as leader. His hand on her shoulder had been firm as he led her away from the battlefield, but there had been a gentleness there, too. The compound gates had still been locked tight as they passed them, but April hadn't realized that they'd be going over the wall until Leonardo and Michelangelo were already halfway up, clinging to the stone with spiked metal cuffs. It had been Raphael, stockier and stronger than the others, who had grunted "Oh, for Pete's sake," and grabbed her arm, hauling her onto his back. He had grumbled all the way up the wall as April clung to him for dear life, but behind the gruffness, there was a strangely attentive kindness. He'd been careful as he guided her over the jagged security glass that littered the top of the wall, ensuring that she didn't hurt herself, before he lifted her off her feet and tossed her down to Leo's waiting arms below.

It had taken her a while to really get Michelangelo. After everything she'd been through, the fact that he wouldn't stop cracking jokes (usually at his brothers' expense) as they fled through the alleyways, despite their repeated hisses of "ninjas are  _silent_ , stupid!", had seemed callous. Like he didn't care that she'd just lost her father and her heart was breaking. And then she noticed that after every joke, he glanced at her, gauging her reaction. That was when she figured it out. He was upset that she was sad, and he was trying to make it better the only way he knew how. He was trying to make her laugh.

Michelangelo's joking aside, their flight through the alleys was eerily silent. For all that they were four large reptiles with incredibly heavy shells on their backs, they moved like cats; the only footsteps she could hear were her own. They changed position often as they ran, one occasionally breaking away to run along a rooftop or a fire escape, scouting their position, yet they always returned to one particular formation: Leonardo in the lead and the others fanned out around April, keeping her in the centre of their little ninja circle. Keeping her safe.

* * *

_Leo halted abruptly at the mouth of an alleyway, and April found herself pressed against his back. Donatello and Raphael crowded in on either side of her, and Michelangelo planted his hands on her shoulders to help himself peer over Leonardo's shell. Leo made a sharp gesture with the hand that wasn't holding one of his ninja sword things._

" _Yeah," Raphael whispered. "Cause she can totally tell what you mean."_

_Leo glared over his shoulder, but his gaze was gentler when he lowered it to April. He still didn't speak – she got the feeling he took the ninja thing very seriously when he was leading – but he stepped aside so that she could see the building that sat on the other side of the road._

_The police station._

" _Oh," she whispered, her mouth suddenly dry._ Stupid, April. _She hadn't even considered what would come next. Of course they couldn't go with her the rest of the way. But she hadn't thought of that. It had never occurred to her that she would have to say goodbye._

_Over the police station, the sky was growing paler. The sun was coming up. They didn't have to tell her that they worked better in the dark; the daylight world wasn't going to be kind to four large mutant turtles. She didn't have a lot of time to waste. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward._

" _April." Leo's voice was serious. Leader voice._

_She turned to face him and looked solemnly up into his eyes. "I won't tell anyone about you. I promise."_

_He smiled at her a little, approval written across his face. He brought his hands together over his chest, one clenched into a fist and pressed against the open palm of the other, and he bowed toward her. April bit her lip, unsure what to do, and looked to Donatello._

_He'd been through even more than his brothers that night, and he was leaning heavily on his staff, but he straightened when she looked at him and gave her an encouraging smile._

_April's throat tightened. "I—"_

"Whaddya lookin' at?" _The voice was loud, angry, and dangerously close to the alley. April whirled, certain that they'd been discovered, but the large balding man in the stained undershirt standing on the sidewalk nearby was yelling at the driver of a cab. He snorted as the cab screeched away from the stoplight, turned, and noticed April staring at him. "And what are_ you _staring at?"_

" _Nothing," April whispered. The man shook his head and stormed off, muttering under his breath. Letting out a sigh of relief, April turned around._

_The alley was completely empty._

_She stood there, unbelieving, for a long moment. Then she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and marched into the growing daylight. She didn't believe for a second that they'd abandoned her. They had to be nearby somewhere, watching her. If the Kraang and their van were to come around the corner right now, they'd be there to stop it. But this mission was hers to do._

_Alone._

* * *

Of course, she hadn't considered what would come after that, either. She should have, she supposed. But after the weirdness of the night, and the fear, and the nearly dying, reaching the police station seemed like the castle at the end of a video game. The place where everything was put right and you got your happy ending. She should have known that alien brains in robot bodies wouldn't go over too well with New York's finest.

Oh, they hadn't accused her of lying. They knew she and her father were missing – they'd been on their way to her aunt's house for dinner and she'd been frantic when they hadn't shown up. But as April told her tale, her accompanying gestures growing bigger and wilder with every measured "…uh-huh…" from the officers around her, they had exchanged looks over her head, and wrapped her in blankets, and had a paramedic look at her bruises, and called her aunt, and exchanged a lot of phrases like "shock" and "post-traumatic stress."

Her aunt had arrived not long after that, and had additional long conversations with various officers and doctors. April had dozed through a lot of that - she'd been up all night, after all, and there was nothing for her to do but sit in an empty room and drink tea and wear more blankets that the paramedic kept forcing on her - but in the end, it was very clear. They thought the shock of the kidnapping had made her invent some wild story to explain it all. At the end of it, she was alone. There were four other people in the whole entire world who knew the truth, and she was never going to see them again.

She never even got the chance to say goodbye.

April hadn't cried when she and Kirby were taken. She knew she had to be strong for her father. She hadn't cried when she thought that the turtles hadn't been fast enough to save them. She hadn't cried when she thought she was falling to her death. She hadn't even cried when she realized that her dad was gone. But now the tears sprang to her eyes, and she pressed her head against her knees, forcing herself to be quiet so that she didn't disturb her aunt.

Donatello had caught her twice that night. So why did she still feel like she was falling, spiraling out of control as the ground dropped away beneath her?

A quiet voice from the shadows of the fire escape said, "April?"

April screamed, grabbing for the windowsill as she nearly toppled clear off it. An instant later, the sound died in her throat as she made out the identity of her intruders.

"April!" Her aunt's voice was tense with alarm on the other side of the bedroom door.

April reached out quickly and shut off the radio. "I'm fine!" she called back. "I just…um… saw a spider! It scared me. Buuuut…I'm okay! Don't come in! I'm not decent!" She made a face. That sounded stupid even to her.

"If you're sure…" the uncertainty in her aunt's voice told her she hadn't bought it either.

"I'm sure. I'll see you in the morning."  _Okay, wrap it up, April, you're getting shrill_. "Good night!"

After a moment of silence, when she was sure that her aunt wasn't going to force her way in anyway, April let out the breath she had been holding and turned back to her intruders. "What… when… How did you get up here?"

Donatello leaned back against the rail, a tiny smirk on his face. "It's a ninja thing."

She glanced at them in disbelief. "But how did you  _find_ me?"

This time all four of them answered in unison. " _Ninja thing_."

April let out a huff of exasperation and drew her knees up to her chest again, turning her face away from them. She knew her eyes were still red, and truth be told, she wasn't sure what the turmoil of emotions inside of her was doing. And right now, she didn't want them to see her cry.

Donatello stepped forward and placed his hand on the sill next to her. She looked up at him, and he wasn't smirking anymore. His brown eyes were wide with concern.

"Are you going to be all right?"

April sighed. "I guess. My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want." Her voice hardened. "But I'll be a lot better once I track down the creeps that took my dad."

"Won't the police help?" Leonardo asked.

"Funny thing," April said. "When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."

Michelangelo nodded solemnly from his perch on top of the ladder. "I hear that."

"April," said Donatello, "I promise you that we will not rest until we find him."

Raphael, who had been sitting quietly on the fire escape rail and observing the conversation, looked up sharply at that. "We won't?"

Leo elbowed his brother. Hard. "No," he said pointedly. "We won't." He looked at April, his serious leader face firmly back in place.

In that moment, April loved them all. But they had already risked their lives for her once. The Kraang were dangerous, and if anything happened to them because of her… "Thank you," she said, and looked down at her hands. "But it's not your fight."

A big, green hand covered both of hers. "Yes," Donatello said. It was a voice that was gentle, and concerned, and full of iron. "It is."

April stared at his hand, shaken. How could she have forgotten the warmth and the impossible strength that lay beneath the scales? And then the full impact of what he had said hit her, and she looked up at him, smiling despite the fact that her eyes had filled with unshed tears.

There was no arguing with that voice. For better or worse, they were in this together.

Her smile seemed to undo something within him, and she could have sworn he was blushing as he stepped away. Leonardo and Michelangelo were already gone, despite the fact that she was three feet away and hadn't heard so much as a squeak of the rickety old ladder.  _Ninjas. Oy._ Raphael, with that same odd mix of gruff attentiveness, saluted her before he leaped up to the roof after his brothers.

Donatello followed after, but he paused when he reached the top of the roof. Turning back, he smiled, and raised his hand in a little wave. April returned the wave with an answering smile, and he was gone, vanishing over the rooftops.

She still hadn't thanked him for saving her life. But she would get another chance. She wasn't alone anymore. Still smiling, she gathered up her radio and headed back into the darkness of her bedroom.

She pulled the window closed, but as she reached for the latch, she hesitated, and her hand fell away. No, she wasn't going to latch it. As long as her four strange, kind, dangerous, amazing new friends were out there, she wasn't locking this window ever again.

And as April turned and leaned her back against the glass, she realized something else. Donatello had caught her a third time tonight, for the moment his hand had touched hers, the ground had stabilized beneath her and the world had started to feel right again.

She no longer felt like she was falling.

 

"[Hold on Tight](http://nicollini.tumblr.com/post/49789623029/hold-on-tight-from-the-fanfiction-falling-from)" by nicollini

 [Falling](http://lunastar89.deviantart.com/art/Falling-343901384) by [LUNAstar89](http://lunastar89.deviantart.com/)


	2. Meanwhile...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little scene to answer the question "how did they end up on her fire escape, anyway?"

**Meanwhile**

* * *

 

MEANWHILE…

Leo paced the roof, ignoring the arguing behind him as Raph and Mikey got into it over who had looked cooler while fighting the weed monster. It was one of those evenings that threatened to turn frigid as the wind swept over the rooftops. The trees had already dropped most of their leaves, and for a group of reptiles who eschewed most forms of clothing, the temperature was becoming unpleasant and Raph's temper was shortening along with it.

"Seriously, Donnie, why are we out here?"

His remaining brother stood at the edge of the roof, one foot braced on the ledge. Donatello hadn't moved for a while, remaining intently focused on the telescope he held to one eye. Leo hadn't even bothered asking where he'd gotten that thing. Lately, if Donnie wanted something, he just went quietly out and made it.

"Just give me a minute, Leo. I just want to see something."

"I've given you two hours worth of minutes." Leo walked up behind his brother and peered over his shoulder, sighting along the telescope. "If I give you any more minutes, Raph is gonna flatten-"

Donatello tensed as the window of a building some distance away opened. A tiny figure hoisted itself to the window ledge, setting something small and red down next to it. Even across the span of rooftops between them, the bright orange hair was unmistakable.

"Are you serious?" Leo hissed. Raph and Mikey broke off their fight at that, their attention drawn by the change in Leo's voice. "Donnie, you  _can't._ "

"I'm not going to do anything." Donnie hadn't looked up from the telescope. "I just... I need to make sure she's okay."

Leo turned away, pacing again. "We shouldn't be here."

Mikey reached the ledge and followed Donnie's sightline. The smallest of the turtles brightened visibly. "Hey, is that-"

Raph placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder and shook his head, all the time staring at Leo. Mikey followed Raph's gaze and fell silent, and the two of them slowly backed off.

He'd wondered why Donnie had practically run to his computer the moment they'd returned from escorting her to the police station. Now he understood what his quiet, clever brother had been up to. Drawing a deep breath, Leo struggled to focus on Master Splinter's teachings. Calm. Focused. Don't let your emotions get the better of you. Donatello is the smart one. Appeal to logic.

"You know that it's not our way." He took a step closer to his brother, holding out his hands. Not that it mattered - Donnie still hadn't looked away from the damned telescope. "We helped her, and you were right, that was the right thing to do. But we can't just follow her like this." He paused. "Donnie, you have to know that it's safer if we don't see her anymore. For us and for her."

Donatello didn't respond. He didn't have to. Leo had spent fifteen years growing to know each of his brothers' traits and mannerisms. He could read their body language better than the books and magazines that washed down into the sewers. Something had changed. "What is it?"

Donatello stood, finally turning to face Leo. Donnie's fist clenched tight around the telescope, and his face was uncharacteristically angry.

"She's crying."

That surprised him. Leo had seen the bruises on her arms from the rough handling she'd endured from the Kraang – they all had – but throughout the entire ordeal, she had remained strong. He knew that what she'd been through had to be upsetting, but the thought of her crying caused a feeling in him that made him distinctly...uncomfortable. He didn't like it.

He looked into Donnie's eyes, and knew in another moment that it was hopeless.

Donatello often endured ribbing from the others over the fact that he was usually the gentlest of the brothers, never the one to start a battle and generally the first one to end them. He was thoughtful and compassionate in a way that the others weren't, and as long as it didn't involve anything scientific, he preferred to cede an argument rather than allow it to escalate into a fight.

It was that aspect of their genius brother that made them forget the core of iron at the heart of Donatello. This was the turtle who had taught himself particle physics from a water-damaged university textbook he'd retrieved from the dump simply because he refused to believe there was anything his brain couldn't do. He'd built his first computer entirely out of a pile of spare parts at the age of eleven, though it had taken him three years, two minor electrocutions, and one three-block power outage to figure out all the intricacies of the wiring.

When it came to stubborn, Donatello left them all in the dirt.

Leo sighed, his hands clenching into fists. "Five minutes."

The gap-toothed grin returned, flashing through the darkness in the moment before Donatello launched himself over the edge.

Raph landed on the ledge beside Leo and looked at him, one brow raised. "It's not gonna be just this five minutes. You know that, right?"

Leo placed a hand on his head. "Splinter is so going to kill me."

Mikey landed on Leo's other side, beaming. "Can I have a human, too?"

"No," said Leo.

Raph snorted. "Genius, you can't even keep a goldfish alive."

"But this would be different! This one would  _tell_  me when it gets hungry!"

" _No!"_  Leo and Raph chorused together.

Mikey's face drew into a pout. "Awww, no fair. Donnie gets all the cool toys." He stuck his tongue out at his brothers and jumped from the roof. Raphael paused only long enough to exchange a long-suffering glance with Leo before he followed him.

Leo remained behind a moment longer, watching as his brothers made their cautious way across the darkened rooftops toward the girl who threatened to turn their lives upside-down. This was not their way. A ninja's domain is the shadow. They strike hard and fade away, without a trace.

He stepped up to the ledge and looked at the girl below him, her knees tucked to her chest and her head bowed. Her shoulders shook. His brows drew together.

A ninja wouldn't get involved.

But a hero wouldn't leave a lost, scared little girl to cry into the darkness, alone.

Gathering his strength beneath him, Leo leaped from the ledge after his brothers and fell into the night.

* * *

"[Meanwhile](http://lunastar89.deviantart.com/art/Meanwhile-344642782)" by lunastar89


	3. From the Sewer (Prologue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a storm looms on the horizon, a new adventure begins as April begins to figure out just how much her new friends are about to change her life, and they learn that there is more to one human girl than meets the eye.

**Chapter 3: From the Sewer: Prologue**

* * *

 

The bedsprings creaked a loud protest as April fell back onto the covers, letting her backpack slide to the ground. One arm dangled off the bed, still tangled in the straps of the bag, and the other dropped to rest across her forehead as she stared up at the ceiling and let out a long breath. Sometimes, it was a battle just to stay  _normal_.

Frowning, she pushed that thought aside and sat up, pulling her laptop out of her bag and setting it on her crossed legs. Her brow furrowed as she booted up the computer and logged back on to the site she'd been checking out the night before. She supposed she ought to be doing homework, but sometimes you just had to get your priorities straight.

It had been almost a week since the events that had changed her life forever. A week of living with an aunt who tried very hard to avoid talking about the reason April was living there in the first place. A week of waiting anxiously with no word from her strange new friends. A week of becoming a complete stranger to her old ones.

She hadn't been able to sit around waiting for something to happen anymore. So she had started doing her own research. It had been a moment of inspiration - spurred on by the memory of the weed monster that unwashed creep Snake had become - that had led her to the chemical labs. Then she'd discovered a pattern: labs all over the city were being bought out by the same dummy company that had no hits on any of the search engines she tried. Then, almost three months to the day that they'd been purchased, the labs were put back on the market, cleaned out of anything that had been stored inside. If the pattern continued, it meant that the next lab was getting cleaned out tomorrow night. If her hunch was right, the Kraang were going to be there. And so would she.

Her concentration was suddenly shattered by the annoying pling of her messenger, and she cursed herself for forgetting to turn it off again. Switching over to the social networking site, she winced. She'd been getting anonymous friend requests on and off since she'd joined the network – one of the hazards of being a young, not-unattractive girl on the internet, she supposed – but this same guy had tried her a couple of times over the last few days, and just wasn't taking the hint. This time, he'd added a short message.

**_Hi. How are you?_ **

April sighed and hit the reply button **.** ** _Look, I'm sure you're very nice, but I'm not interested. Don't you have something better to do?_**

She switched back to her research, but the message sound plinged again almost immediately. April rolled her eyes. Just her luck, the guy was probably online. She opened up the message box.

**_Not really. Alien brains and weed monsters have been pretty scarce. I'd drop in, but I don't have a helicopter handy._ **

April's fingers froze on the keys. Blood roared in her ears and she caught her breath, her heart pounding. Forcing her muscles to respond through the waves of adrenaline crashing over her, her fingers shaking so hard she could barely type, she hit reply.  ** _Donatello?_**

Her cursor blinked slowly on the screen. The pause as she waited for a response stretched longer than one of her school's interminable pep rallies, but she didn't dare look away. This time, the incoming message sound didn't bother her a bit.

**_Ha! I knew it was you!_ **

April pressed her face into her hands, still shaking.  _Wait a second._  She looked up sharply and punched reply.  ** _You have the internet?_**

**_Doesn't everybody?_ **

Shaking her head, she accepted his friend request. Before she could reply, however, another message box popped up.

**_Actually, our connection *has* been pretty unreliable lately. I think it has something to do with electrical interference and flooding from the storms these last couple days. I'm hacked into your wireless right now. I didn't think you'd mind._ **

Her eyes widened. All but throwing her laptop aside, she bolted for the window and nearly fell over the sill in her haste to get through it. As she stumbled out the other side, clinging to the rail of the fire escape to regain her balance, she felt her heart sinking.

The fire escape was empty.

She had to bite her lip as tears stung her eyes. She'd been so sure. But before the tears fell, she heard the softest of sounds above her. It sounded like the "friend accepted" alert. Trembling, she looked up.

The laptop he held looked like it had been cobbled together from several different units, and had more random hardware stuck to it than a villain's ray gun in a bad sci-fi movie. His eyes were wide with surprise as he stared at her from his perch on the edge of the roof, but he quickly closed the laptop and set it next to him.

"Hi," said Donatello.

A wave of emotion coursed through her, an odd mingling of joy, relief, apprehension, and excitement. She stared up at the mutant turtle on her roof, and felt the grin spreading across her face. "What are you doing up there?"

"Enjoying the view," he said, kicking his feet a little.

April folded her arms across her chest. "Seriously? That's the best you can come up with?"

"No, really," he said. "It's pretty great from up here. Uh, the city, I mean."

"I've been to the top of taller buildings than this one, you know," she said. "It's not that special."

He shook his head. "It's not the same." He tilted his head to regard her. Then, with a smile, he leaned forward and extended his hand.

April's breath hitched. They had stood like this once before, his hand outstretched to her, his face open and welcoming, waiting for her to take the first step. She'd hesitated then, and regretted it ever since. She would never know whether it would have saved her father, but it would have saved her a lot of pain and fear that day if she'd just taken it.

She wouldn't make that mistake again. Her heart sped up a little as she climbed to the top of the fire escape ladder, wobbling for a moment as she caught her balance on the very top rung, and reached up to him.

His massive hand engulfed hers. Once again, that strange combination of gentleness and impossible strength held her tightly before her stomach dropped out beneath her, and she let out at tiny squeak as he hauled her easily up to the roof. She blinked, disoriented by the speed at which it had happened. Then she could only stare, her mouth slightly agape, at the foreign landscape of rooftops and twinkling city lights spread out before them. She leaned back on the ledge next to her incredible new friend, and wondered at the fact that he'd managed to show her a side of the world she grew up in that she'd never seen before.

"You were right," she breathed. "It is different up here."

"The company helps," he said.

April glanced at him, startled, but he was looking away from her, suddenly bashful. He'd let go of her hand really quickly, too. She couldn't help smiling. She knew he was incredibly dangerous – she'd seen it firsthand – but despite that fact, she found his shyness around her kind of adorable.

"It's nice to have someone to talk to," she said.

He looked back at her then, more serious. "April, I'm sorry we were away so long. Things have been… weird after all the stuff that went down. It's taken a while to sort things out." He fidgeted with his hands. "After we made the news, our  _sensei_  had a bit of a meltdown."

" _Sensei?_ " April asked.

"It's Japanese," Donatello explained. "It means…teacher, I guess." One hand rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "He's also kind of our dad." He looked at her. "It's complicated."

"Wait," said April, "you guys speak Japanese?"

"Sure. It's Master Splinter's first language. We got most of our English from TV." He grinned at her. "Plus, it kind of goes with the whole ninja deal."

April braced her hands against the ledge and shook her head. "And I thought my life was complicated."

"Hey, it's been a crazy week." He tucked one of his feet beneath him and turned to face her. "So. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

April stiffened. "Who said anything was wrong?"

"Aside from the stuff you went through when we met?" He gestured at her. "It's obvious you're wound up tighter than a clock. It's way worse than the last time I saw you."

She frowned at him. "Is that some ninja thing, too?"

"Actually, yeah," he said. "You need to be able to read body language to anticipate your opponent's next move."

"So I'm an opponent now?"

His eyes widened in alarm. "What? No! I mean—" He threw up his hands. "I'm sorry. I just wondered if there's anything I can do, that's all." His fingers wrapped around the ankle he'd tucked beneath him. "You seemed sad."

April looked down and locked her fingers together in her lap, finding that it was her turn to be suddenly shy. "I had to start going back to school a couple days ago. I knew it was going to be hard, but the other kids…" She trailed off, struggling to find the words.

Beside her, Donatello stiffened. "What happened?" he demanded. April glanced up at him to find his face set, and an edge in his voice that she'd only ever heard once before. "Do I need to hit somebody?"

That startled a laugh out of her. "No. Put the ninja stick away."

"Bo staff," he corrected.

April shook her head. "It's nothing like that. It's just… they know that something happened to my dad, but not what  _really_ happened, which I can't tell anybody. And nobody knows what to say. So nobody says anything. I'm stuck there in the middle of a thousand other kids, but it feels like there's this empty bubble around me, and nobody can get through it. Nobody even tries." She looked out over the bustling city and sighed. "It's silly, feeling like you're alone when you're surrounded by people."

"No it isn't," he said quietly.

The moon and the ambient lights of the city were enough to show her that his expression was earnest. There was no condescension in him, and none of the slightly patronizing sympathy she'd come to expect from her aunt, who was concerned about her and the "fantasy" she'd made up about her father. April couldn't believe how comforting it was to have someone who actually took her seriously.

Her eyes widened and she gasped, bringing her hand to her head. Donatello straightened, one hand lifting slightly as if he were about to go for his staff. "I can't believe I forgot!" She laid her hand on the leather guard at his wrist and he stared at it, his face as flushed as a green-skinned turtle's can get. "I think I figured out where the Kraang are going to hit!"

That brought his attention instantly back to her. "What?"

"I've been doing research, and I think they've been buying up chem labs, doing something in them, and then cleaning them out like clockwork. If I'm right, they're hitting the next one tomorrow." Her eyes narrowed and she punched her fist into her palm. "And I'm gonna be there to find out what they did with my dad."

"No. You're not."

There was iron and steel in his voice. She'd forgotten he could do that. Hurt lanced through her for a moment before anger shouldered it aside. "You can't tell me what to-"

Strong hands grasped her shoulders, and her protest fell away, forgotten. He wasn't hurting her, but she knew that she wasn't going anywhere until he decided to let her go. "April, listen to me." He stared into her face, his brown eyes wide with worry. "I know you're scared, and you want your dad back, but you can't go up against them. We've been training to be ninjas for fifteen years, and we pretty much got our shells handed to us by those guys. You may be the most capable human I know—"

"I'm the only human you know," she muttered.

He tilted his head, considering. "True." He looked at her again. "But if you try to take on the Kraang, you're going to get hurt." He let go of her and brought his knee up to his chest, resting an arm across it as he looked out over the city. "I don't want that to happen."

"Donatello…" she bit her lip, trying to find the right words as she followed his gaze across the rooftops. Far in the distance, lightning flickered at the edges of the city as a new mass of cloud rolled in. It looked like they were in for another storm tonight. "I can't just let this chance go."

"Who said we're going to?"

With a sudden heave, he pushed himself from the ledge, landing easily on the fire escape below. Turning back to face her, one hand hitched in his belt, he grinned up at her. " _We'll_  go take on the Kraang. We can get in there, get some answers, and as soon as we find out anything, I promise we'll let you know."

April leaned forward, her feet dangling over empty space. He was right. She knew he was. She had been so used to the idea that she was in this alone, she had never even considered the idea that she might have someone else she could depend on to help her. "So you're saying I have my own personal ninja hit squad?"

His grin widened and he bowed, one fist pressed against the other open palm. "At your service." Still smiling, he held his hands up to her.

She couldn't help laughing as she looked fondly down at him. How was it that the weirder her life got, the more comforted she actually felt? She hated the fact that her father was missing, and she still had nightmares about glowing vans and cold metal hands dragging her into the darkness. But as she looked at the turtle waiting below her, a small part of her couldn't regret what had happened. She never would have met them otherwise.

Planting her hands firmly on the concrete, April pushed herself over the edge of the roof. There was no fear as she dropped. As she was quickly coming to learn, if there was one thing she could count on in the upside-down mess that had become of her life, it was that Donatello wasn't about to let her fall.

* * *

"[Falling](http://actionkiddy.tumblr.com/post/58524405117/so-i-drew-this-for-fantaisawandering-i-read-a)" by actionkiddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for your comments so far! I'm not sure how much more of this there will be; I'm madly in love with the new series now (OMG episode 4!), but every so often something makes me go "wait, what happened when...?", and "Falling" seems to be where I satisfy my own curiosity about it. So how much there is will depend largely on what the writers leave to take place offscreen. That said, there's a pretty big "I wonder" between episodes three and four. It may take a while to fill in, because what this prologue (which actually takes place just before episode three) is suggesting to me is that the latest gap I want to bridge is actually way bigger than I thought. Bear with me, guys, I think I may be writing an episode...


	4. From the Sewer (Act 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm breaks, a new friend is brought home, and a canister of mutagen goes somewhere it really isn't supposed to...

**From the Sewer: Act One**

* * *

New York City, the world's greatest metropolis, is truly a city that never sleeps. But as its people go about their lives, at any hour of the day or night, few take the time to look up, or down, or anywhere but that strange unfocused nowhere that people who spend all day trying not to make eye contact with each other have mastered. Had they looked up once in a while, as the evening lengthened into night, they might sometimes have seen four shadowed figures moving across the rooftops in a way that resembled a deadly kind of dance.

Later, had they truly looked at the city in which they lived, someone might have noticed the ground-level skylight that seemed to lead to nowhere, its clouded glass so covered in dust and grime that no detail could be made out of the room beneath. The room was once part of a subway station in days past, when the city had loftier dreams for itself and its people. Now abandoned, its entrances were so well sealed that the only way into the room or those beyond was much more circuitous and fraught with danger. A situation that suited the room's current inhabitants just fine.

The clouded skylight let just enough light through to allow the unlikeliest of subterranean sights, a gnarled tree, to grow and thrive. Worn carpets surrounded the tree, carefully collected over years of scavenger runs, cleaned and carefully patched. On those carpets, a battle raged. Not an encounter of warrior against warrior, fought with fists or weapons, but that of a father locked into a battle of wills with his son.

"Donatello, it is out of the question!"

Splinter clasped his hands behind him, that his son might not see the tension in his fingers. Donatello knelt before him, at the end of the line of his brothers. The others were watching the argument with quiet intensity, though thus far Donatello's had remained the only voice.

" _Sensei_ , please. Why can't we bring April here?"

"You know why." Splinter breathed deeply, trying to keep his voice even. "For fifteen years, we have kept the secret that keeps this family safe. You cannot simply bring home every human you meet on the street."

"But we're not talking about every human! We're talking about April!"

His eyes narrowed. "And what happens with the next person you rescue? Would you bring them home as well? Why not the boy who delivers the pizza while you are at it?"

At the end of the row, Michelangelo perked up visibly. "Ooh, can I vote for that one?"

Raphael quietly reached over and smacked his brother upside the head. Sometimes, Splinter reprimanded him for it. Other times, such as this one, he tacitly ignored it.

Donatello's hands clenched into fists, and Splinter could see the struggle within his son that mirrored his own as he fought with himself to retain control. "She's different."

Sighing, Splinter placed a hand on his son's shoulder. The muscles beneath his palm were corded into knots. "I have allowed you, against my better judgment, to travel to her home to see her. Why is that not enough?" The cleverest of his sons looked up into his eyes, and Splinter found himself taken aback by the force of the emotion behind the purple mask. Oh, he knew of the strength that lay within Donatello, but he had never expected that the quiet son who preferred to retreat behind his machines and his gadgets would be the first to fall in this way.

" _Sensei_ , she's hurting. I've watched her—"

"From a distance, through a telescope," said Raphael.

"Which is totally not creepy at all," Michelangelo added. Leonardo shushed them both, and they subsided with a minimum of snickering.

Donatello glared at them before he returned his attention to Splinter. "If we go see her, we can't stay long, and we have to spend the entire time worrying about being seen. She doesn't have anyone to talk to about what happened, and it's getting to her. She's spending her time obsessing over finding her father, and I'm worried it's going to get her hurt. Or worse." He spread his hands in supplication. "She was ready to go after the Kraang by herself."

That earned him a sharp glance from Leonardo. Clearly, he had neither known of that fact, nor liked what he heard. After a moment, Leonardo looked down at his hands, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Splinter closed his eyes, pressing his fingers against his temple. When he opened them again, it was to regard his children with regret. "Your heart does you credit, Donatello. But opening our home to this girl is simply too dangerous. I know are worried, and your concern is commendable, but it is not our duty to care for her."

"No. It's her father's. But thanks to us, he's not there to do it." Leonardo's quiet voice dropped into the silence, and the others stared at him, aghast.

Predictably, it was Raphael who recovered first. "Now wait just a minute, Chief. If we hadn't been there, not only would her dad  _still_  have gotten nabbed, but April would be with him."

"I know," said Leonardo. "But we  _were_  there. From the moment we got involved, the safety of the family became our responsibility, and we weren't good enough. We got April back, but we left her father to the Kraang. And now she's alone." The look Leonardo turned upon Splinter was deeply serious. "What was the point of saving her if we're going to stand back now and let her be hurt?"

Sometimes, Splinter couldn't help wondering how much of Leonardo's moral code came from Splinter himself, and how much of it came from that television program he insisted on watching.

Donatello, who had watched Leonardo throughout his speech with the same expression of shock as the others, now transferred his gaze back to Splinter. There was a new hope in his face now that he knew his brother was firmly on his side.

"Please,  _Sensei,"_  Donatello said. "We'll make her cover her eyes on the way in if you think that would make things safer. She just needs the chance to do something normal."

Raphael snorted. "On what planet do we count as normal?"

"Duuude." Michelangelo stared dreamily into space. "A planet of mutant turtles would be so awesome."

Raphael looked at him askance. "There is something seriously wrong with you."

Throughout the exchange, Leonardo and Donatello kept their attention focused on their _sensei,_ and Splinter found himself torn. On the one hand, his team of highly trained ninjas was ready to break rank, rebel, and breach the core of secrecy that had protected them all these years. On the other, his fifteen-year-old boys were begging desperately for him to let their little friend come over and play.

Unbidden, he found his mind drifting to Miwa. He had never had the chance to see his poor little daughter grow up, but this man, this Kirby O'Neil, had raised a daughter he clearly loved, and had been taken from her by force. It took no stretch of the imagination to know what this man would think of another father who would allow the child to be hurt when it was within his power to stop it.

A ninja knows when to press for victory. But a ninja also knows when he is beaten.

"No-one is coming over until this place is absolutely spotless."

It took the boys a moment to process the meaning behind his words, and they stared at each other in disbelief. Donatello's face was the first to break out into a grin and he leaped to his feet. "Thank you,  _sensei_!" In a heartbeat, Donatello had bolted from the room, no doubt headed for his computer. The others sprinted after him.

"Tell her to bring comics!" Michelangelo shouted.

"Forget comics, tell her to bring pizza!" called Leonardo.

"And don't forget to clean your rooms! You are turtles, not swine!" Splinter bellowed after them.

Raphael paused in the doorway of the dojo, looking back over his shoulder. Splinter had come to recognize the vaguely puzzled expression on his son's face as the one he bore whenever he was trying to figure out a conflict of emotions within him. Finally, he said quietly, "thanks,  _sensei._ " Then he was gone, in pursuit of the others.

Splinter walked slowly to the tree and knelt beneath it, in one of the pools of late afternoon sunlight. The sun had been rare given the multitude of storms they had endured of late, and he took a moment to close his eyes and allow the warmth to soak into his fur.

He would reserve judgement until after meeting this girl, but one thing was very clear in his mind. The turtles were young, and strong, and deadly, but they had never experienced either the boundless compassion or the incredible cruelty of which the human race was capable. This April was still a stranger to him, and as such, had the potential for either one. And responsibility or no, he would not allow this young woman to harm his sons.

* * *

 

April carefully surveyed the materials of her makeshift command centre. Her laptop hummed quietly on a corner of her bed, a multitude of search engine tabs opened to newspaper articles about strange factory closures. Spread out across the pillows were photocopies she'd taken from the city archives detailing recent industrial real-estate sales. Next to her, a map occupied most of the bed. It was littered with colour-coded flags and post-its, labeled in her careful handwriting. Dates of laboratory sales, vehicles sighted in the factory parking lots, patterns of movement throughout the city. Most sixteen-year-olds had to worry about English lit papers and Trig homework. She frowned at the evidence spread out before her. She was starting to suspect that she wasn't quite normal.

Her computer made the annoyingly chirpy  _plink_  that told her she had a new message. Despite herself, her heart sped up a little. She knew the reaction was silly; it couldn't  _always_  be Donatello. But as she reached for the computer, a grin spread across her face. This time, it was.

**_Hey, April._ **

**_Hi!_  **she typed back.  ** _So what happened? Did you find them? Did they tell you where they're keeping my dad?_**

There was a long pause before the next message popped up on her screen. ** _Yeah, about that… it's kind of hard to explain._**

She waited, her brow furrowed. There was another really long pause between messages. She started to worry, and was reaching to check the status of her wireless connection when the answer finally came.

_Plink….plink…..plink. Plink. Plink. Plinkplinkplinkplinkplink._

Dumbfounded, April scanned her way through the massive wall of text that dominated the messenger window. Her eyes grew wider as she read. Finally, she opened a reply.

**_Let me get this straight. The Kraang got away because you were busy fighting with the angry fat guy you turned into a giant spider?_ **

The pause wasn't nearly as long this time.  ** _Huh. When you put it that way, I guess it isn't that hard to explain._**

April rested her chin against her hand. She should be angry. She should be furious. But she couldn't find it in her. She'd seen the weed monster, after all. Before she could come up with a response, her messenger _plink_ -ed again.

**_So, we were wondering… if you don't have any more leads or anything, did you want to come over and hang out?_ **

She stared in incredulity at the message window, but the words were still there. That weird mix of excitement and fear washed through her.  _Hang out… with them?_  Slowly, an ecstatic grin crept across her face.

Was there ever any question?

**_Yes!_ **

This time, his response was almost instantaneous.  ** _Great! I'll send you some directions. The way in is a little complicated right now._**

As she waited for his response, her smile faded as she surveyed the materials spread out across the bed. Guilt nagged at her, but she had to admit that she was stuck. Some time away couldn't hurt. And maybe, if the right situation presented itself, she could go over some of her findings with her new friends. Feeling a bit better, she folded the map, careful not to disturb any of the notes stuck to it, and tucked it into a pocket of her backpack. She surveyed the room for a minute, and decided on a few more items to add to the bag.

She was stowing the last of it when the messenger sounded again. This time, it contained an attachment. She opened it to reveal an entire page packed with complex directions. As she read through them, her jaw dropped.

_I am going to kill him._

* * *

As if to make up for the brief interlude of sunshine that afternoon, the storms returned with a vengeance that night. April cowered beneath her umbrella as lightning tore across the sky, thunder striking a moment later with the reverberating force of a gunshot. Rain cascaded in angry torrents, splashing up from the pavement until the cars on the street were shrouded in perpetual mist. The umbrella gave her head some protection at least, but by the time she reached the entrance to the subway station, her shoes and most of her legs were drenched.

April swiped her MetroCard through the reader on the turnstile and ducked over to the wall as soon as she was through. Pressing herself against the wall so that she was safely out of the flow of people, she closed her umbrella and dug into her backpack for her instructions. She had already read them several times over, and it didn't get any better on repetition. Going over them one final time, she folded them back up with a sigh. Shaking off her umbrella as best she could, she tucked it in the water bottle carrier at the side of the backpack, stowed her instructions again, and slipped the straps over her shoulders.

She checked the time on her phone, and was at least reassured that the downpour hadn't made her late. She even had a few minutes to kill. Moving deeper into the station, she became aware of a strange, haunting sound drifting over the heads of the crowd. As she turned a corner, she saw a young man seated at an enormous harp, and even the jaded denizens of the New York City subway crowd had gathered around to watch him. In another minute, April recognized the song.  _Mad World._

"You're telling me," she muttered.

A dissonant crackle drowned out the harpist for a moment as the MTA announced that the 5 train was delayed due to flooding, and the 6 train was diverting due to electrical issues in the tunnels. A chorus of groans and angry exclamations arose around her, and she found herself a little relieved that she wasn't actually depending on a train to get her to her destination. Another glance at her phone told her it was time.

She used to get killer attacks of the butterflies before speech time in English class. She'd though she'd understood what bad stage fright felt like. This feeling put those butterflies to shame. This was Mothra on a rampage. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the end of the platform. It wasn't as busy as during rush hour, but there were still an awful lot of people in the station. A yellow gate barred the stairway down to the tracks, and a large sign advised DANGER: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. Glancing down the tunnel, April could see the lights of the oncoming train.

She drew another steadying breath. "Here we go."

The train charged into the station, the vortex of its passing whipping her hair around her face. It slowed to a stop, leaving a small gap between the end of the train and the beginning of the tunnel. As the doors opened and the churn of people began, every one focused on either getting on or off the train before anyone else, April seized the moment of chaos and vaulted the gate.

The tunnels were lit at intervals by wall mounted lights, but they were still incredibly dark. The ceaseless dripping from the rivers of storm water cascading from the ceiling didn't help the atmosphere any. The butterflies continued to wage war on her, causing her heart to pound and her breath to come faster. Had the events of the past week not occurred, this would be hands-down the stupidest and most terrifying thing she had ever done.

And she hated to admit it, but it was also kind of exciting.

The train pulled out behind her, and she quickened her pace. The last thing she wanted was to run into the next train. Then, from the platform, came a sound she hadn't anticipated.

"Hey! Who's down there?"

A quick glance over her shoulder showed two men on the platform in hard hats and reflective construction vests. Panic spiked through her. She was far enough down the tunnel that she didn't think they'd seen her, but she paused, ducking into the shadows against a wall.

"I'm telling you," one of the two said, "I ain't seeing things, someone jumped the gate."

_Oh crap._

She fled, and the drumming of her heart wasn't loud enough to drown out the sounds of pursuit behind her. The tunnel curved away ahead, a corridor of shadow broken by intermittent pools of light. She tried to be as quiet as she could, but she was sure that she sounded like a herd of elephants stampeding along the tracks. Her breath was growing ragged as she pushed herself as fast as she could go. Then, to her horror, she saw a light growing steadily brighter around the next corner of the tunnel. Wind blew against her face, picking up speed, and the rails next to her began to sing.

_This is it. I'm gonna die._

The shadows moved. Darkness reached out and the ground fell away beneath her.

Seconds later, a train roared through the tunnel. When it had passed, the MTA workers stepped out from their sheltered space at the side of the tunnel and examined the tracks with their flashlights.

"You sure you saw someone? It's a lotta paperwork if they didn't get out of the way of the train."

The other worker looked around, his hand at the back of his neck. "I dunno, maybe I am seeing things. I'm telling you, it's the weird noises in the tunnels, man. Half the guys on my shift are seeing ghosts."

His partner shook his head. "I swear, one batch of bad weather and you young guys are ready to call it quits. These tunnels are old. Storms make noise. Come on, it's almost quitting time anyway."

It would have taken two seconds for the workers to shine their lights into the shadows in the recesses of the tunnel ceiling. Had they done so, they would have seen the two giant turtles braced against the ribs and pipes lining the tunnel walls, with a very frightened human girl between them. The turtle wearing red had one hand firmly over the girl's mouth, and one of his legs crossed over hers, pinning her in place as his foot hooked around a pipe for support. On her other side, the turtle in purple was similarly positioned, one arm across her waist and a leg supporting her feet.

Fortunately, native New Yorkers never look up.

As soon as the tunnel was clear, Donatello landed soundlessly on the tracks and held out his arms. A second later, April fell into them with a terrified squeak. As she waited for her stomach to catch up with her, her eyes wide and her limbs still rigid with fear, Raphael dropped easily down next to them.

Donatello looked down at her. "Hi," he said, and set her on her feet.

April took another moment to gather herself. Then she reached out and smacked him on the arm.

"Ow!" His eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you crazy?" she said as loud as she dared. "Oh, come hang out with us April. It'll be fun! You can illegally break into the subway tunnels, get chased down and nearly arrested, or maybe, just for kicks,  _you can get hit by the J train!_ " She bent over, bracing her hands against her thighs, panting as adrenaline kicked through her system. "That was  _so_  awesome. What is wrong with me?"

The brothers' expressions had been growing increasingly panicked throughout her hysterical outburst, but at that last part, they exchanged a grin.

"I'm really sorry, April," said Donatello. "It's usually a lot less complicated, but with all the storms lately, most of our usual entrances are kind of flooded with raw sewage."

"We figured you'd rather avoid that," added Raphael.

April let out her breath in a huff. "Good call."

"The hard part's over though." Donatello moved down the tunnel and gestured toward an alcove in the wall. April followed warily after him, and saw that part of the wall had crumbled away, leaving a hole to pitch darkness beyond. She raised a brow at him, and he smiled at her, holding out his hand. "Trust us."

She couldn't help smiling back. Taking his offered hand, she let him and Raphael help her over the third rail. As they moved away from civilization, she paused to ask, "aren't there supposed to be four of you?"

They exchanged another glance. April was the first to admit she didn't spend a lot of time around teenage boys, especially lately, but even she had no trouble reading that look. "Okay, what aren't you telling me?"

Raphael fidgeted with his belt, refusing to meet her eyes. "We might have spotted what might have been a Kraang van while we were doing a run on the way here. Leo and Mikey stayed behind to check it out."

"Recon only," Donatello added. "They're just going to see where the van was headed. We don't move in without the full team."

Raphael chuckled. "Even Mikey's not that stupid."

* * *

Rain lashed Leo's face, stinging like a hundred tiny needles as he raced down the street. "So, Mikey, let's review," he said conversationally as his brother drew up next to him. "When I said 'do not engage-'" He ducked as a barrage of laser fire whipped over his head. " _-which part of that wasn't clear?"_

"Dude, that was so not my fault!" Mikey winced as the tires of the pursuing van screeched around the corner behind them. "I wasn't trying to attract their attention."

"You dropped a gargoyle on one of them!"

"I was just leaning on it! That building was very poorly constructed!"

Leo glanced over his shoulder at the oncoming van, and his eyes widened. He didn't have time to be gentle. Planting his foot, he nailed Mikey with a side kick and used the momentum to fling himself in the other direction. Michelangelo went flying into a pile of garbage cans at the side of the road as the van sped through the spot where his brother had been only a moment before.

He sprinted back over to where Mikey lay. His brother stared up at him, his expression not unlike that of a kicked puppy. "Geez, Leo," Mikey said. "Remind me never to get you mad at me."

"Aww, Mikey." Leo held out a hand and hauled Mikey to his feet. "I'm mad at you all the time."

"Oh. Right." Headlights flooded the alley, and Mikey looked at him. "More running?"

"More running," Leo confirmed. They headed back down the alley, the van in hot pursuit. As they neared the mouth of the alleyway, Leo's eyes narrowed. "Mikey! Heads up!"

Michelangelo followed his gaze upward and grinned. "Got it!"

As they hit the entrance to the street, both turtles gathered their strength and launched themselves upward. Leo's hands locked around the overhanging bar of the streetlamp at the side of the road, and he pulled himself over the bar, perching on the post as the van roared past beneath him. He glanced at Mikey, who had made it to the top of the next streetlamp over, and allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

If there was one thing you could count on in New York, especially this part of New York, it was trash. The downpours had washed a fair amount of it down the street to clog the sewer drains on this side of the road, and the van hit the enormous puddle that had built up there at just the wrong angle. The van spun out, careening across the road to collide with a lamppost across the street.

The back door of the van fell open, and a single canister of ooze toppled out of it. The drains on that side of the street were flowing much more freely, so that the side of the road resembled a small but raging river, and the canister was grabbed by the torrential current. The turtles watched in horror as it was swept toward one of the large storm drains under the curb. The drain was old, and most of the bars put in place to block debris were gone. The canister was going to head straight through it.

"I got it!" Mikey launched himself from his perch and sprinted down the street. "I got it!"

"Mikey, no!" Leo flung himself after his brother. Pushing himself to his limit, he watched Mikey throw himself into a perfect slide, following the canister effortlessly through the storm drain.

"I got it! I got—aaugh!" Mikey's tone shifted abruptly as he cleared the drain and found himself not in a familiar tunnel, but toppling into empty space as water rushed in a thundering cascade from the nearby storm drains into a thirty-foot drop to a churning maelstrom below. "Aaaaaaaaah—oof!"

Michelangelo's scream cut off abruptly as Leo dived into the drain after him, one hand locking onto Mikey's belt and the other catching firm hold of one of the remaining bars on the grate.

As they dangled over the pit, swinging a little from Mikey's momentum, they watched the glowing canister rush toward a second waterfall and vanish into the darkness. From above, they heard a screeching crunch of metal, followed by the squeal of tires as the Kraang righted their van and drove off.

"I would be okay with never telling the others about this," Leo said finally.

Mikey looked up at him. "Especially Raph?"

Leo winced. "Especially Raph."

* * *

"[Falling](http://nodelinquent.tumblr.com/post/47601285484/fantasiawandering-nodelinquent-donatello)" by nodelinquent

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back on track again! Just two notes for the curious. First, owing to the fact I've only been in the NYC subway system once, the transit system in this story is actually a hybrid of the subways from a couple major cities I've been to. Second, the harpist is really there. You can find him on Youtube. And thanks again, guys! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm certainly having fun. :o)


	5. From the Sewer (Act 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lights go out, a father goes missing, and a new monster is unleashed...

**From the Sewer: Act Two**

* * *

 They arrived back at the lair before Donnie and Raph. Leo was surprised, but profoundly grateful, as it gave him time to think about what, if anything, he was going to tell the others. Splinter was nowhere to be seen either, but that wasn't entirely unexpected. Their  _sensei_ often went for walks when the pressure of raising four teenage boys got to him. Leo also knew that, though Splinter hadn't said anything about it, meeting anyone else after fifteen years with no company but Leo and his brothers had to be difficult for him. Especially when that someone would remind him so much of what he had lost. For a moment, Leo wondered if they were making the right decision. Then he remembered the distant red-haired figure on her windowsill, shaking with silent tears, and wondered how he could possibly doubt it.

 _Why doesn't Captain Ryan ever have_ these _kinds of problems?_ Sighing, Leo turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until he found a rerun of  _Space Heroes._  Mikey, who hadn't quite finished cleaning his room with the others, headed off to rectify the situation before Splinter could come home and yell at him. Again.

There was a muffled thud from the other side of the turnstiles, followed by a sheepish, "Sorry."

"Good one, Donnie. Let's break her leg before she gets through the door."

"I'm fine really. Just warn me about the steps next time, okay?"

Leo's eyes widened a little as the unlikely trio stepped into view. Donnie and Raph each held April gingerly by a wrist, awkwardly attempting to guide her and more often than not ending up pulling her in opposite directions. April's eyes were closed, and the expression on her face was clearly amused, if a little weary.

Donnie caught his look and shrugged. "I promised Splinter she wouldn't see the way in."

"We figured we could trust her not to peek." Raph halted before the turnstile with a look of consternation on his face.

Leo rose and took the stairs at a leap before his brothers attempted to navigate her through it. "I think she can open her eyes now."

April complied, and the gratitude in her bright blue eyes wiped his mind completely blank. "Uh. Hi, April."  _Saysomethingsaysomethingsays omething._  He bowed, checking himself at the last minute and switching his hands so that his left fist pressed against his right palm instead. "Welcome to our home."

Raph vaulted the turnstiles and stalked down the stairs. "The sixteenth century called, Leo. They're wondering when you're coming back."

"There's nothing wrong with being polite," Leo whispered between clenched teeth as Donatello gestured for April to precede him through the gate.

A light hand laid itself on his wrist. Startled, Leo looked up into April's smiling face. "Thank you," she said. He stared at her for a minute, and answered her smile with a shy one of his own.

"Whatever," Raph said, and paused when he saw the TV screen. "You know, there comes a time when you need to admit that you have a problem, man."

Leo glared at him. "It's a great show!"

 _"April!"_  The orange and green streak that was Mikey barreled across the lair and slammed into the girl, gathering her into a hug that swung her in a full circle before her feet could touch the ground again. Donnie just stared with a horrified expression on his face; it was Raph who reached over and prised Mikey off of her, hauling him back by the shell. Undaunted, Mikey continued to reach for her as Raph held him out of range. "What did you bring me?"

This time, all three remaining brothers acted in unison.  _"Mikey!"_

But April was smiling as she watched the proceedings, and Leo felt a little thrill of accomplishment at that. Apparently, Mikey did have his uses after all.

"Actually," she said, pulling off her backpack, "I did bring some—"

"Sweet, I knew it!" Mikey reached back, grabbed Raph's arm, and executed a textbook perfect throw. As Raph blinked dazedly from where he lay on the stairs, Mikey leaped over him and grabbed April out from under Donnie's astonished nose. Before either Donnie or Leo could stop him, Mikey carried her down to the pit and dropped her onto a pile of cushions on the bench. Giggling, he settled on the floor in front of her, legs crossed, leaning forward expectantly, as he did whenever the family elected to celebrate Christmas.

Seething, Raph struggled to his feet and punched one fist into his palm. Leo laid a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder. "You know what Mikey's like with new toys. He'll get bored after a while and wander off, unless we make a fuss over it; then he'll never let her go."

Raph's shoulders sagged. "Can't I just hit him a little?"

"Maybe a little," said Donnie as he passed them.

Donnie settled on the bench beside April, while Raph seated himself on the opposite side of the pit, taking the time to whack Mikey on the head as he passed. Shaking his head, Leo reclaimed his spot in front of the TV, turning the volume down out of courtesy. He didn't need it that much, anyway. He had the episode memorized.

April was busy rummaging through her backpack. "I brought some comics with me. I figured you guys didn't get to do the whole release day thing."

"Just what we need," Raph said, crossing his arms and making a great show of looking uninterested. "Comics about sparkly horses and magical fairies."

Donnie looked about ready to pummel him, but April just raised a brow. "Aww, I'm sorry to disappoint you. All I have is these."

She pulled a stack from her bag and passed them to Mikey, whose eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. " _From the Sewer?"_ he breathed. " _Mister Macabre?_ Oooh, ooh!  _Corps Cadavres!"_  Mikey hugged the comics to his chest, squealing with glee, as Raph looked over in dismay. Leaping to his feet, Mikey bounded to the pool and flung himself into the tire swing with his new stash. "I'm changing my vote guys," he called as he swung. "The pizza guy would have been neat, but Donnie picked the  _best_  human!"

April looked at Donnie. "Did I miss something?"

He rolled his eyes. "With Mikey? Always."

"Oh! I almost forgot, I have something for you too, sort of." She pulled out her phone and poked at it. "Have you ever heard of Astronautalis?"

"Who?" Donnie asked, peering over her shoulder.

"I didn't think so. Here." She passed the phone to him as music began to pour out of it.

Donnie stared at it with his brows furrowed for a moment, but his expression quickly turned to one of astonishment. "Wait…am I listening to a rap about Dimitri Mendeleev?"

"Uh-huh." April leaned back, grinning.

"That… is so  _awesome!"_

Raph threw up his hands. "Okay, I give up. Who the heck is Dimitri Mendelsohn?"

"Dimitri  _Mendeleev_ ," Donnie said, as though Raph should have known better. "The father of the periodic table of the elements?"

Clearly unimpressed, Raph said, "And I should care about this why?"

Donnie was gearing up into full-on geek mode now. "Oh, no reason. He was only the chemist who singlehandedly managed to classify the elements according to their chemical properties."

"Which let him observe that there was a periodic repetition to their chemical properties when arranged according to their atomic weights," April added, "which let us predict how the elements combine and react and basically allowed us to understand how the universe is put together." She became aware that the other three were staring at her. "What?"

Mikey, dangling upside down from the swing, sighed. "Aw, man. She speaks Donnie." He buried himself back in his comic. "I might have to change my vote again."

Raph leaned toward Leo as Donnie continued to wax poetic about the father of modern chemistry, and whispered, "I bet you that it won't take five minutes before he's offering to show her his 'workshop.'"

"I'm not taking that bet," Leo said, trying to focus on what was happening on the screen; it was getting to the good part. "That's a sucker's bet."

Raph considered that. "You're right." He hoisted himself over the edge of the pit and moved toward the swing. "Hey! Mikey!"

Shaking his head, Leo let him go. Donnie finally managed to wind down as the song ended, and hit play again. "Do you mind if I make a copy of this?"

"Sure—" April began. Beaming with delight, Donnie vaulted backward over the bench and headed for his computer as April called after him, "—but do you have the compatible software?"

"Donnie takes copy protection as more of a challenge than anything," said Leo absently, still trying to focus on his show. Knowing it was rude, but unable to help himself, he nudged the volume up a bit. It really was the best part. His hands wrapped around his knees and he rocked back and forth a little as Captain Ryan regained consciousness, slowly becoming aware that something was terribly, terribly wrong. He was so absorbed by what was going on, it took him a minute to realize that April had left the bench and was leaning in next to him, staring at the screen.

He was about to say something when April asked, "is this the episode where Captain Ryan gets stranded on Nebuzar XXII?"

"And gets thrown into the gladiatorial arena," said Leo, as Donnie returned with April's phone.

"And has to fight his way through the horde of slavering weasel beasts using only the geology surveying equipment from Crankshaw's field kit and his rudimentary knowledge of explosives!"

Raph rejoined them just in time to hear April's excited outburst, and stared at her in disbelief. "Great. There's two of them."

Ignoring him, Leo and April had a moment of perfect unison. "Best. Episode. Ever!"

Donnie, who has been watching them with an expression of increasing dismay as their interchange had grown more animated, broke in between them and said, a little too brightly, "So! Do you wanna see my workshop?"

"Awww!" came a howl from Mikey.

Leo looked over at Raph, who lounged against the back of the bench with a smug grin on his face. Raph held one hand up over his shoulder as Mikey stalked over, slapped the pile of comics into Raphael's waiting hand, and stormed off, muttering under his breath.

"Told you," said Leo.

Raph flipped open a copy of  _Corps Cadavres_  and settled back with his spoils. "Easy money."

As Donnie led April away to show her his prized collection of inventions, the episode broke for a commercial, and Leo glanced uneasily at the time. Splinter should have been back by now, especially given April's arrival. Looking around at his brothers, he sighed. The others didn't seem to be worried, and maybe Splinter did need more time to adjust to the idea of having a human around. He nodded once, decided. He'd give their  _sensei_ until the end of the episode.  _Then_ they'd go looking for him. Satisfied, Leo settled back to watch Captain Ryan confront his first weasel beast.

* * *

In a distant tunnel, Splinter stared in utter incredulity at the river of sewage that flowed where just an hour ago there had been a perfectly serviceable bridge. This was the third such path he had tried, and they had yielded in turn a collapsed tunnel, a dam of garbage, and this most recent flood of unmentionable waste.

At his wit's end, he glanced skyward and said, to whatever might be listening, "Why does nothing ever  _work_  in this city?"

In response, a new flood of sewage poured from a grate overhead. Sighing, Splinter turned to retrace his steps through the tunnel. "Of course. Raise your boys in the sewers. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan." As he headed back to try yet another path home, his thoughts turned to his sons. Surely he could trust them to be alone with a girl for a few hours without getting into trouble. They were four trained ninjas.

_Fifteen-year-old ninjas._

Frowning, he quickened his pace. The sooner he got home, the better.

* * *

The familiar fight music swelled as Captain Ryan faced off against the weasel beast. Fists clenched, Leo couldn't help humming along a little as the intrepid captain leaped to the side and rolled across the arena.

"Leo, do you mind?" Raph asked. "You're getting geek all over me."

Mikey draped himself upside down across the back of the bench next to Raph, repeatedly tossing and catiching a ball he'd fished out of the storm water the day before. "This is a soccer ball right? Do you think April would teach me how to play?"

"Guys, will you please-" Without warning, the image on the TV switched to static. Leo stared at it in horror.  _"Donnie! The cable's out!"_

Every light in the lair went out, and the turtles were plunged into darkness.

_"Donnie!"_

"It wasn't me!" The bobbing beam of a flashlight heralded Donatello's emergence from his lab. April was only a few steps behind him, holding the light. "I mean, sure, it's usually me, but this time it wasn't."

A flicker of lightning filtering through the skylight in the dojo outlined the doorway in ghostly light. An instant later, a rumble of thunder, usually masked by the incessant noise of the TV and the myriad games that populated the lair, rolled through the room.

Mikey flipped himself so that he was right way up on the bench, clutching his ball to his chest, his eyes wide. "Okay, I am officially creeped out." As a second flash of lightning threw shadows up onto the wall, he scooted closer to Raph.

Frowning, Raph planted a hand on Mikey's head and shoved him back across the bench. "I'm gonna go check it out." In another second, he was gone, vanishing silently into the dark.

April raised a hand. "Um, it's a storm, right? Power goes out during a storm?"

"Not here," Donnie answered absently as he moved around the lair tucking things into a duffel bag. "Our feeds are all underground and protected from most storm damage, and I've rigged backups to keep us from going out like this. Usually, the only time we lose power is when we have a mechanical obstruction on our end. " He stopped next to her and frowned at the bag, taking the flashlight back so that he could make out its contents.

Mikey scratched his head. "Is that your fancy way of saying that you blow the lights every time you electrocute yourself?"

"Shut up, Mikey."

"It's dark for a ways," said Raph, materializing next to April quietly enough that she shrieked and grabbed at Donnie's arm. Donnie didn't seem to mind much, but she let go quickly with a sheepish look on her face. "There are lights in some of the other tunnels though."

"Hmm." Donnie dug into the bag. "That would suggest that it's an issue with the cables and not a broader problem." He sighed. "We'd better go check it out."

"What, all of us?" Mikey's voice had climbed to a squeak.

Donnie started tossing out flashlights, which Leo and Raph caught easily. Mikey's hit him in the head, since he was still clutching his ball, but he caught it on the way down before it could break. Donnie rolled his eyes. "If it's a problem with debris, I may need help moving stuff." He vanished back into the lab.

"Yeah, but hold up a sec." Raph hooked a hand into his belt. "Not to point out the obvious, but some of us aren't exactly built for strength."

"Subtle," April said, folding her arms.

Leo reached out and grabbed the coil of electrical cable that Donnie tossed to him from the lab. "There's a ninja master who's extremely paranoid about strangers on his way home somewhere. You really think it's a good idea to have him come across someone he doesn't know, alone here, in the dark?"

Raph inclined his head. "Good point."

"Oooh!" Mikey raised his hand. "How 'bout  _I_  stay here with April."

"Nice try, meathead." Raph grabbed Mikey by the back of the shell and hauled him off the bench. "If I've got to get my hands dirty, you're coming too."

As Raph dragged a protesting Mikey past them, Leo turned to April. "Sorry about this."

She waved a hand. "No problem. Our building was pretty old, and I used to have to change fuses my dad blew all the time. I'm used to it." She paused, and a shadow crossed her features. "He was really great at his specialty subjects. Basic household maintenance wasn't one of them."

Leo hesitated a moment, and then placed a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, a question in her eyes, he tried to put every ounce of conviction he had into his voice. "We  _will_  find him."

April stared at him, a little taken aback, and then smiled, placing her hand over his. "I know."

A loud throat clearing sounded behind them. Turning, Leo met Donnie's stare with a raised brow and set down the flashlight and the coil of cabling so that he could accept the pair of katana that Donnie held out to him. Donnie's bō was already on his back, and having apparently collected everything he felt they needed, Donnie returned the flashlight to April. Raph and Mikey stepped into the light, weapons in place, though Mikey looked decidedly greener than usual.

"Right then," said Donnie, slipping the strap of the duffel over his head. Remembering that April was watching, Donnie struck what Leo could only assume was supposed to be a heroic pose. "Let's do this."

The largest lightning flash yet threw the lair into sharp relief, and thunder echoed through the sewer like cannon fire. In response, from deep within the tunnels, an eerie cry rose, swelled, and faded into the darkness. Almost unconsciously, the four turtles edged closer to April, the expressions on their faces ranging from alarm to abject terror.

"Um… that's normal, right?" said April. "Like those subway guys said? Storms make weird noises in the tunnel?"

"S-sure," Donnie said, and cleared his throat. "That's all it is. Storm noises." He squared his shoulders. "Let's go." Reaching out to snag Mikey, who had slowly been inching toward the bedrooms, Donnie marched himself and his brother toward the turnstiles.

As she turned to follow, the beam of April's flashlight rested on the issue of  _From the Sewer_  that Raph had abandoned on the bench. She sidled closer to Raphael and whispered, just loud enough for Leo to overhear, "don't tell anyone, but I'm starting to like the staying behind with Michelangelo plan."

Raph slung his arm around April's shoulders and leaned in close. "Don't tell anyone either," he said, "but so am I."

April laughed, her voice tight with nervousness, as Raph led her after Donnie and Mikey. Leo watched, bemused, as she leaned into Raphael ever so slightly. His arm stayed solidly across her shoulders.

It had been a long time since the sounds of a storm had troubled their subterranean lives. As they had moved around the tunnels and filled their homes with more and more electronic paraphernalia, they had forgotten the fears that had plagued them as children whenever the thunder began to roll. But as Leo watched the tension ease out of April, he remembered just for a moment how Raphael, always the strongest and most solid of the four, had been the one to shelter his brothers with his sheer physical presence during those storms and chase away the monsters in the dark. Though he always threatened bodily harm if you ever breathed a word of it, even when they had been young enough for all four of them to fit in the cabinet under the kitchen sink.

Sliding his katana into their sheaths, Leo picked up the flashlight and the cables at his feet and set off after the others.

* * *

Away from the lair, too far for the thunder and lightning to reach them from the dojo, it should have been less creepy. But as they moved through the tunnels, the darting beams of their flashlights illuminating the streams of water cascading from the ceiling and utter blackness rushing in where the lights passed, April was forced to admit that this was even worse. The ceaseless dripping of the water was relentless; even the thunder had paused in between lightning strikes.

"Okay," she said to Michelangeo. "I think I've got this straight. You've got the  _nunchaku_ —"

"Or just nunchuks, if you're not Master Splinter." Grinning smugly, he used his free hand to pull one from his belt and do something so fast April could barely follow it in the beam of the flashlight. "Best weapons ever."

A snort from Raphael, further on in the darkness, drew April's attention. "And he's got the sais."

"Sometimes known as salad tongs," said Michelangelo.

 _"They're not salad tongs!"_ The angry voice echoed off the tunnel walls.

Michelangelo waved a dismissive hand. "He's still sensitive over that one."

"I'll 'sensitive' you!"

Shaking her head, April turned to Leonardo on her other side. "And you've got katana?" He nodded, and she pointed her flashlight at Donatello's rapidly disappearing shell. "And that's a bō."

"Four for four," said Leonardo. "Congratulations, April, you have officially aced Ninja Weapons 101."

"Granny O'Neil would be so proud," April said.

Something crunched under her foot. As she swung her flashlight down to see what it was, the floor of the tunnel crawled away from the light in a tide of fur and glistening shells. Gasping, April recoiled, colliding with Leonardo.

He put a steadying hand on her arm. "Sorry. It's not usually like this. When storms get really bad, the lower levels flood and the rats and cockroaches get pushed up here."

"Oh." She tried to bring her heart rate back to something resembling normal. "Wonderful."

Ahead of them, Donatello swept the tunnel at floor level with his light, peering at the cabling running the length of the tunnel and occasionally poking at them. He paused, muttering, and dug something out of his duffel bag. "I need someone to—"

"Me!" Michelangelo brushed past April, practically jumping up and down as he waved his hand in the air. "Oh, me! Me!"

Donatello didn't look impressed. "I really don't think—"

"Me!" If Michelangelo strained any harder, his arm was going to fall off. "I can be useful!"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Please, Donnie, whatever it is, if it'll make him shut up, just give it to him."

Donatello sighed and held up the device he'd pulled out of his bag. "Okay, Mikey, listen close. This is serious. I need you to watch the readout on this…" He smacked Michelangelo on the head. "Focus!"

"Sorry, I saw a bug." Michelangelo rubbed his head. "I'm totally listening."

Donatello grunted and placed his hand over his face. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Okay, just tell me when this line hits the maximum valance readings. That's all. Just that one thing."

"Can do!"

"I seriously doubt that," Donatello muttered, and resumed his prodding along the electrical cables. Michelangelo followed behind, peering intently at the screen.

As Raphael moved up to whisper something to Michelangelo, distracting him from his assigned task and earning him a sharp rejoinder from Donatello, April considered the brothers. Seeing them now, bickering with the easy familiarity of family, it almost felt like their given names were too heavy for them. It was one of the reasons why she'd been having difficulty calling them by name. At times like this, the diminutives they used with each other seemed a thousand times more appropriate, but almost too familiar, and though she knew it was silly, she almost felt as though she hadn't earned the right to use them yet.

And then sometimes she remembered how they had moved when they fought, their movements deadly but somehow almost beautiful, and the complicated names of the Renaissance painters seemed to fit them all too well.

Slowly, April became aware that Leonardo was staring at her. No,  _Leo._  There was no distance in the way he looked at her now.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, so that the arguing trio didn't overhear.

"Yeah," she said, shaking herself a little as they moved to catch up with the others. "It's just the atmosphere. Lends itself to heavy thoughts, you know."

"Tell me about it," he said.

As they drew up next to Michelangelo, who was still staring at the screen with so much concentration that his tongue protruded a little from his mouth, there was a flash of light from further down the tunnel, followed by a strangled scream from Donatello.

April stared as he marched back into the circle of the flashlight beam and stormed over to Michelangelo. His bandana looked decidedly singed. Mikey cowered behind April, definitely more Mikey than Michelangelo at that point, forcing Donatello to stop in front of her. He glowered at Mikey over April's shoulder.

"You had  _one_  job!" Donatello jabbed his finger toward the device clutched to Michelangelo's chest.

"I totally did it!" Mikey stepped out from behind April and waved the gadget at his brother. "I watched the stupid thing the entire time and there were  _no_ veins! It was just a bunch of squiggly lines!" He paused, and frowned at the screen. "Wait, were the squiggly lines the veins?"

Donatello smacked his palm against his head. "Oh, for the love of…" His hands clenched into fists. " _Valances!_ "

Starting to fear that it was about to escalate into a fistfight, April placed a hand on Michelangelo's wrist. "Here, it's easy." She pointed at the screen. "You just watch this bit here, and see if any of these lines cross this other one over here."

Without another word, Donatello took three steps, snatched the device from Michelangelo's hand, thrust it at April, and stomped back up the tunnel. Beside her, Mikey wilted visibly. April patted him on the shell.

"It's all right, you can still help me. See this red light here? I need you to watch that and let me know if it goes ' _ping.'_ "

That was enough to perk him back up, and he waved a nonchalant hand at her. " _That_  I can do." He planted his hands on his hips and directed his next comment further down the tunnel. "It's a lot easier when you  _explain it in English!_ "

A terse string of Japanese drifted back to them. Michelangelo gasped. "I am  _not!_ "

"Easy, Mikey," Leo said, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't let him distract you. April needs your help right now."

"Oh, right." Mikey glued himself to April's side. "I'm on it." His eyes widened and he pointed at the device. "That was totally a ping!"

"I'm reading a spike here," April called down the tunnel.

"Got it," Donatello called back. There was a moment of silence, followed by a hushed, "whoa."

Leo frowned. "Something wrong?"

"You guys better get over here."

Exchanging a worried glance, April and Leo sprinted down the tunnel, Mikey following close at April's heels. Donatello knelt at the side of the tunnel, examining a length of cable as Raphael shone a flashlight over his shoulder.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked.

"It looks like these cables have been chewed," he answered.

Raphael frowned. "Rats?"

"Maybe," said Donatello. "Only… these teeth marks are really big."

Leo hooked the hand that wasn't holding a flashlight into his belt. "How big are we talking?"

"Umm…" Donatello looked around for a minute, until his gaze fell on April. "Hey, April, can I borrow you for a second?" There was none of his usual awkward nervousness around her. This Donatello was entirely caught up in the science of the moment.

"Uh, sure," April said. She stuck the valance reader into her backpack and walked over to him. As soon as she was in range, Donatello –  _No, Donnie_ , she finally allowed herself to think – grabbed her wrist and pulled her free hand down close to the frayed cable.

He examined both for a minute and then stood, bringing April with him. He held up her wrist, and pointed at her hand. "So, yeah. We're looking at teeth about this big."

After a moment of shocked silence, Mikey turned on his heel. "Welp," he said, tossing his flashlight over his shoulder so that Leo practically had to dive to catch it. "I'm outta here."

"Whoa, hold it!" Leo planted himself in front of Mikey. "You're not going anywhere."

"Says who?"

"Says your leader."

Raph pushed in on April's other side. "As much as it pains me to agree with Leo, I swear, if you chicken out on us, I will smack you so hard—"

From behind her, Donatello's voice joined the chorus. "—if you think that you're bailing after letting me get electrocuted—"

"—did not sign up for—"

"—what kind of ninja lets himself—"

"—and then the  _hammer_  will have bruises—"

Quietly, trying not to draw too much attention, April backed away from the escalating fight. Given the way each one of them was tensing up, ninjutsu couldn't be that far behind, and she did not want to be caught in the middle of that. She kept her flashlight pointed down as much as she could, hoping that the vermin in the tunnels would get out of her way.

Something brushed against her arm lightly. Shuddering, April swung her flashlight up, hoping to scare whatever it was away. The last thing she needed was a cockroach deciding she looked like a useful perch—

_A glistening carapace. Shining compound eyes. Antennae the size of her arm. Razor sharp teeth bared in a hiss. A hooked foreleg reaching for her…_

In the second that it took for her brain to register the horror that perched on the ledge next to her, a scream clawed its way from her throat, echoing against the tunnel walls. An instant later, a strong, scaled arm seized her around the waist; in the same motion, she was swung around, away from the monster, the momentum sending the flashlight flying from her hand to smash against a wall as the rising shriek from the creature cut off abruptly.

In the silence that descended, April became aware that her feet were still dangling several inches above the ground, the arm around her waist solid as a bar of iron. As the beams of the others' lights converged on them, she craned her neck to peer back over her shoulder. Raphael, panting almost as hard as she was, stared at the creature on the ledge. Now unarguably dead, the thing had one of Raph's sais sticking out of its back, right between the shoulder blades.

_Oh crap, it's got shoulder blades._

April shivered, and only then did Raph seem to realize that he still had her clamped firmly to the side of his shell. He set her down quickly and retrieved his flashlight from the track where he'd dropped it. He shook it a few times, but the light remained dark. "Well, so much for that one," he said, and tossed it aside.

"Sorry," she said, her voice still a little shaky. "It surprised me."

"In this case, I can't say I blame you," he said. With a grimace of distaste, he yanked his sai out of the thing and set about cleaning it as best he could using a discarded piece of newspaper on the side of the tracks.

"What is that thing?" Leo asked.

"It is  _bad,_ " said Mikey. "That is a  _bad_  thing."

April stared at it, at a loss for words. The thing was huge, about the size of a Rottweiler, but more compact. The giant eyes sat beneath two rounded ears, and the long orange incisors the size of her hand were framed by two pointed mandibles. The thing was covered in a combination of hard, chitinious shell interspersed with matted grey fur. Its legs were serrated, with hooked ends, but bore the unmistakable signs of a mammalian skeleton underneath. And beneath the long, folded wings on its back that now drooped over its sides, she could see the end of a thick, naked pink tail.

"Yeah," said April. "But what  _is_  it?"

"Duh," said Mikey. "It's a mutant."

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Donatello. He leaned in closer to examine it, prodding at the thick coating of slimy mucous that covered the thing from head to tail. "How did this thing even come into contact with any mutagen?"

Michelangelo stiffened. "Wow, good question." He placed a hand on the back of his head and looked up at the ceiling. "There's no possible way  _that_  could have happened tonight."

Eyes narrowing, Donnie rose to his feet. "Mikey," he said quietly. "What did you  _do?"_

Helplessly, Mikey's gaze darted to Leonardo. Donatello turned on his other brother. " _Seriously_?"

Leo had the grace to look mortified. "The Kraangs' van crashed when it was chasing us, and a canister may have ended up washing down into the sewers."

 _"Why was it chasing you_?"

Leo folded his arms. "Mikey dropped part of a building on them; that wasn't my fault."

"Oh, nice one, Chief."

"I told you, that building was poorly constructed!"

"Uh, guys?" April took a few steps away from the creature. "Does that thing look like it's getting bigger to you?"

The turtles stopped fighting long enough to follow her gaze, and as they watched, the body of the creature began to swell, slowly inflating like a balloon. A thin, stretching noise filled the air. Then, without warning, the thing exploded in a shower of goo.

The ninjas reacted fast enough to avoid the cascade, and April had backed far enough away that she remained largely untouched save for a patch on her hand that she shook off while trying very hard to keep her lunch down.

Raph rounded on Donnie. "It  _explodes_?"

Donnie scratched his head. "Yeah, that's new to me, too."

"It's burning me." April stared at the spot on her hand that the goo had touched, which was rapidly turning red. A second later, it really started to hurt. "Ow, it's seriously burning!"

Donnie seized her wrist and plunged her hand into one of the streams of water still falling all around them. In a matter of seconds, the pain faded and April breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes as the water cooled her skin. An instant later, she opened them. "Please tell me this isn't sewage."

"It's just rainwater." Donnie released her wrist. "Keep that there a minute." He approached one of the piles of goo on the tracks and stuck something from his duffel into it. After a minute, the gadget beeped, and he held it up to take a reading. "It's caustic."

Mikey stared at the goo. "They're full of acid?"

"No, it's the opposite of acid." He poked at the pile. "And it looks like it's just in the slime that was on the outside of it. We should be okay, I think, but April doesn't have a useful covering of scales to protect her from it."

"Don't touch the goo," said April. "Noted." She pulled her hand out of the stream and flexed it. It was red and raw, but she didn't seem to be any the worse for wear.

"All right, let's get this patched and get out of here." Donatello set to work excising the damaged length of cable and replacing it from the coil Leo had been carrying. He was incredibly efficient, and within a few minutes, the lights in the tunnel flickered to life. Donnie looked up in satisfaction. "There," he said. "All in a day's—"

A quick browning was all the warning they had before the lights went out again.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Raph's voice sounded from the darkness before Leo and Mikey switched their flashlights back on.

April dug out the valance reader and turned it on, frowning at the screen. "It looks like the readings are spiking again…" She moved down the tunnel, following the readings until she came to an enormous alcove in the wall. A massive fan, now still, hung overhead, presumably part of a ventilation system. Beneath the fan, a huge hole led down into darkness. She glanced at the screen again and sighed. "Of course it's coming from down there."

* * *

Leo shone his light down into the darkness as the others gathered around. The way down was largely clear, though a few pipes and cables crossed the descent to the level below. Raph was the first to jump down, using Leo's light as a guide to avoid the debris. Leo tossed his light down to Raph and followed.

"Looks like it's clear," Leo called back up.

"Okay, here we go." Donnie turned to April. "I'll go down first, and then Mikey will help you get into position so that you can make the drop. Mikey, once April's down, you can send down your light and follow us."

"Got it," said Mikey.

Before April had time to protest, Donnie had already jumped into the shaft.

"Um, just one problem," April said. Mikey looked at her in surprise and she blushed. "I'm not a ninja."

"Oh, we know," said Mikey, kneeling down at the edge of the hole. "Donnie's going to catch you." He smiled. "What, you really think Donnie'd just let you fall?"

April looked at the drop, and a strange feeling crept over her. "No. I guess he wouldn't."

Mikey set his light down and held out his hands with an encouraging grin, twitching his fingers in a "come on" gesture. Taking a small breath for courage, April put her hands into his and let him swing her out over the pit.

She dangled for a moment, supported entirely by Mikey's strength. He looked down, his expression uncharacteristically serious, maneuvering her to a place where she could drop without hitting any of the obstructions on the way down. He came across as younger than the others so often, she sometimes forgot that he'd been training just as long as they had, and had just as much of that frighteningly casual strength beneath the goofy exterior. Glancing down past her dangling feet, she could see Leo's light illuminating the hazards, and Donatello standing directly beneath her.

"The Mikey express, now departing on track two," Mikey said flippantly, but he didn't drop her right away. Instead, he looked down at her, a question in his eyes.

April smiled at him, and nodded, and he let go.

Time seemed to slow as she fell, wind roaring past her ears, pipes looming dangerously close as she dropped past them. For an instant, she was back over the roof at the Kraangs' compound, tumbling from the helicopter, certain that she was falling to her death. The flashback gripped her hard, and panic squeezed her heart and threatened to stop the breath in her lungs.

And then she was down. As awareness returned to her, slowly, the first thing she became aware of was the familiarity of the hands that held her. She opened her eyes to find that her arms were around Donatello's neck. His brown eyes, wide with concern, were only inches from her own.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

She squeezed her eyes closed at those all-too-familiar words and shook off the last of the flashback. Taking a shaky breath, she opened her eyes again and smiled. "Yeah."

He set her gently on her feet, and as he turned back, holding out his hand to catch Mikey's flashlight, April said, softly, "thanks, Donnie."

His head snapped toward her with a flummoxed expression, his face far redder than a turtle's had any right to be. Mikey's flashlight sailed, unnoticed, past his outstretched hand and smashed on the floor of the tunnel.

Raph stared at Donnie in utter disbelief and threw up his hands. "What the heck was  _that_?"

"She called me 'Donnie'," he said in a quavering voice as a doofy grin spread across his face.

Leo smacked his hand over his eyes. April looked at Leo, concerned. "Was that wrong?"

"No," said Leo, "he's just an idiot."

Donnie opened his mouth, a finger raised in pointed protest, but before he could get a word out, Michelangelo landed squarely on top of him and took both of them down. As April, Leo, and Raph stared down at the tangle of green limbs, Mikey struggled out of it and hoisted himself to his feet, glaring down at the battered form of his brother.

"Dude," said Mikey, "you're supposed to get out of the way."

A pained groan was the only response.

* * *

They walked slowly down the tunnels, letting a slightly bruised Donnie take the lead. Raph and Leo took control of their two remaining flashlights, leaving April to monitor the electrical valence reader, and Mikey to monitor his red light, when he wasn't distracted by other things. The tunnels were much wider here, several stretches of track coming together and crossing in a complex hub. As the lights swept across the tracks, much dirtier than those on the level above, April was reminded of her descent to the lair earlier that evening.

"How come there haven't been any trains?" she asked.

"These lines were built back when the city dreamed pretty big," Leo answered. "They're mostly abandoned now."

"Weird," said April. "There's an entire world down here that I bet most people who've lived in the city their entire lives will never even know about."

"Suits us just fine," said Raph.

April shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She looked around at the tunnel, imagining all the work that must have gone into it, only to have it abandoned. "It's just kind of sad." She looked at the readout on the screen, shook the device, and frowned. "Donnie, these readings are weird."

Up ahead of them, Donnie stopped and turned around. "How weird?"

"Not weird enough," said Mikey, as Raph's light swept toward him. "The light hasn't gone pi—yyyyaaaaughh!"

The rest of Mikey's sentence dissolved into a shriek as Raph's light illuminated the creature perched on a pipe next to Mikey's head. April found herself shoved behind Leo as he drew one of his katana. He squared off defensively in front of her while trying to steady the light with his other hand. The creature hissed, and faster than April would have imagined possible, it was gone from the beam. Leo passed April his light and drew his second katana.

"Ow!" came Mikey's voice from the darkness, followed by a series of thuds. "Ow! This thing is seriously bitey, guys!"

"Send it over here and I'll give it a –aaaaugh!" Raph went down as the creature leaped for him, his flashlight going out as it hit the tracks and spun off into darkness.

Around her, April could hear skittering on the tracks. She swung the flashlight around, only to hear a muffled exclamation from behind her. Turning, the beam of her light caught Leo scuffling with the creature before it hissed and darted away from the light again.

"A little light over here!" Mikey called, the unmistakable sounds of fighting coming from his direction.

"I'm trying!"

As Raph and Donnie moved to help Mikey, April swung her backpack off her back and dug into it until she found the role of tape she'd been using to post signs about her dad. She stuck the flashlight to the side of the valence reader and wound the roll around it, tearing off the tape with her teeth. As she returned the pack to her back, she pulled the umbrella out from its side pocket. Reader in her left hand, umbrella in her right, she stared at the screen and hoped her suspicions were correct.

There. Valence flux. She swung the reader around until the readings spiked, and the light taped to the reader illuminated the cowering form of the creature. It hissed again and leaped at her. With a cry, she swung her umbrella, which snapped out to full extension at the apex of her swing and knocked the creature sideways, straight into Donnie's spinning back kick.

"Nice one, April!" Leo leaped passed her as she tracked the creature using the valence reader, keeping it illuminated for the boys.

It was Mikey who got the fatal kick in, and the sound of the creature's neck snapping echoed down the tunnel. Silence descended, save for the heavy breathing of the group as they gathered around to stare at the creature. Which suddenly began to swell.

"Oop, there she blows!" Mikey shouted.

With a squeak of alarm, April hit the button on the handle of her umbrella. It snapped open and she ducked behind it just in time to avoid the spray from the exploding creature.

As she shook off the umbrella and forced it closed, Raph surveyed the carnage. "That is seriously disgusting."

Frowning at the readings on the display, April turned slowly in place. Pausing, she glanced up, and felt the blood drain from her face. Raising a shaking hand, she pointed at the tracks behind Raph. "I think they agree with you."

Raph spun, and the two hissing creatures on the tracks behind him bolted in opposite directions. April tried desperately to follow them with the light, leaving Raph in darkness. "Perfect," he said. "How are we going to –oof!"

"How many of these things are there, Donnie?" Leo called.

"How should I know?" Donnie snapped. "I'm not the one who dumped the mutagen on them!"

"Shut up and get over here!" came a strangled cry from Raph.

April swung the light back, to reveal that the creature she hadn't been tracking was gnawing on Raph's shell. Donnie moved in as she pinned the thing in the light, but a cry from behind her attracted her attention. She moved the light to illuminate Leo on top of the other creature. Mikey was on top of Leo, about to bring his nunchucks down on Leo's head.

"Oh. Oops," said Mikey.

"Ow!" The enraged voice split the air behind her. "Donnie, that was  _me!_ "

"Sorry, Raph, I couldn't see you," said Donnie from the darkness. "So where did the other one go-aaaauughh!"

"I got one!"

"Mikey, I swear, if you hit me one more time…"

"Sorry!"

"April," called Leo. "We need the light!"

"There's only one of me!" she yelled back. Glancing down at the readout, her eyes widened, and she dropped the light to the tracks at her feet. Orange teeth gleamed as the thing in front of her opened its mouth and gathered itself to leap.

Silver flashed through the dark, and the creature dropped to the tracks as Leo's katana severed its spine. In seconds, it began to swell. April took a step back, fumbling for the button on her umbrella.

Mikey slammed into her an instant before the mutant exploded, driving the breath from her as they flew clear of the caustic slime. He used his shell to take the impact when they hit the tracks, curling around her as he rolled them both. Then he was back on his feet, supporting her under her arms as he lowered her to the ground.

"Light!" Raph bellowed.

April swung the flashlight around, and watched in horror as the little bulb flickered once, twice, and then gave up, plunging them all into blackness.

"Oh great," came Mikey's voice from her left. "You guys, this is just like  _From the Sewer_  issue 163! And now the monster queen is going to follow her minions up here and eat all of our brains!"

"Well you should be safe, then," said Raph.

"Hey!"

"Quiet, Mikey," said Leo. "Guys, listen. Can anyone hear it?"

"Forget hearing it," said Mikey. "Donnie, get over to April and fix the stupid light!"

"I'm on it. Here, April, give me your hand."

"…that's not my hand."

"Sorry!"

A soft, green glow illuminated the tunnels. The first thing to become clearly visible was Mikey's relieved face. "That's better. Thanks, guys."

April exchanged a look with Donnie, who had one hand on the valence reader and the other on her shoulder. "Umm," said April, "that wasn't us."

They looked down. On the tracks, the slime coating on the creature was now glowing an eerie, phosphorescent green. It bared its teeth and hissed at them.

Raph gestured at it in exasperated outrage. " _They glow now?"_

Donnie just shrugged, helplessly. "Mutant."

"Oh, for the love of…" Raph broke off as the creature leaped toward April and Donnie. An interception kick from Raph sent it flying toward Leo, who handily dispatched of it as Donnie moved to block April from the explosion.

The glow faded as the pieces of the creature fell to the track, and Raph's wry laugh came from the darkness. "At least it's easier to hit the dang thing when it's lit up like the Fourth of July."

But April wasn't paying attention to the downed creature anymore. She turned, staring down the tunnel. "Hey, Leo? I thought you said this line was abandoned."

"It is," Leo said.

"Then what's that?" By this time, the darkness had retreated enough for them to see April pointing as a light grew brighter around the next curve of the tunnel.

Mikey was facing the other direction, and he pointed as well. "It's coming from over there, too!"

"Two trains?" Donnie said. "On an abandoned line?"

A high shrieking swelled from either end of the tunnel, and April shivered, holding the valence reader close to her chest. "I don't think that's a train, guys."

As if in answer, a deeper, lower version of that shriek rose and swelled, breaking like a wave over them. They'd heard that sound once before, just after the lights in the lair went dark. Now it was closer, and the resonance of it shook the ground beneath them.

On the heels of the cry, hundreds of glowing creatures burst around the corners of the tunnel.

"It's a flood of ratroaches!" Mikey exclaimed.

Raph smacked him on the head. "Ratroaches? Seriously?"

Mikey planted his hands on his hips. "I don't have a lot to work with here, guys. It's that or 'cockrats'."

The others exchanged uncomfortable glances. "No, no," said Leo. "'Ratroaches' is good."

"Incoming!" Donnie drew his bō. Following suit, his brothers leaped into the fray.

Chaos reigned around her. April ducked out of the way, swatting a glowing ratroach with her umbrella before popping it open to shield herself from the death of another. As April struggled to close the umbrella, which made it too difficult to see what was going on, the folding canopy revealed another creature in the middle of a leap toward her. With a yelp, she released the catch, and the umbrella opened again with a  _fwoomp_ , striking the ratroach and catapulting it toward Raph.

Mikey landed behind her, and his nunchucks took out another ratroach that had been creeping up on her left side. But the tingling that had been spreading up her arms as the creature approached wasn't going away. In fact, the hair on both arms was standing straight up. Taking the brief reprieve to glance at the screen of the reader, she gasped. "Hey, Donnie! These readings are getting really nuts. I think these things might be—"

Before she could complete the sentence, Leo's katana sank into one of the nearby creatures. This time, a flash of light accompanied the death of the creature, and Leo was flung back onto the tracks, limbs spasming, as a decidedly scorched smell filled the tunnel.

"—bioelectric." April finished.

Mikey, standing at her shoulder, eyes wide, pointed at the valence reader. "It went  _ping_!"

The creature Leo had killed exploded, flinging the katana back to the dazed turtle. Donnie fought his way through the swarm to Leo's side and dragged him back to his feet. "Guys, these things have learned how to produce a bioelectric current. Non-conductive weapons only!"

"Speak  _English,_  Donnie," Raph yelled, stabbing his sai into one of the creatures.

An instant later, he landed at Donnie's feet, blinking dazedly as the current dissipated from his body. Donatello glared at him. "It means don't poke the electrocutey thing with the big metal stick!" He looked at the others. "Wooden weapons only!" He paused, glancing down at the wooden bō in his hands, and then back up at his brothers, who were holding their metal weapons with varying expressions of dismay and anger. His shoulders slumped. "Oh, great."

April closed her umbrella, letting it dangle from the strap at her wrist in case she needed it again. The ratroaches just kept coming, the tunnel now almost bright as day, if daylight were green. Slowly, the turtles were forced back toward the hole they had used to reach this level of track. They closed in around April, pinning her into a ring of hard, now seriously scratched and bitten shells. Their weapons – weapons they couldn't use – framed her in a gleaming, deadly fence. In her hand, the reader was off the scale.

"It's going  _ping_!" Mikey yelled.

"Now what, Chief?" Raph took another step back, his shell pressing hard against April.

"I think," said Leo, calmly, "in light of the current circumstances, our best course of action would be a strategic relocation."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Donnie snapped, "just say 'run'."

"Run!"

And immediately, the turtles were gone. April found herself standing alone on the track, the others having ninja-vanished back up the ventilation shaft. The ratroaches paused at the abrupt change in the numbers of their quarry, and she exchanged a look of mutual astonishment with them.

"Oh, come on!" she yelled.

Mikey was suddenly beside her, his expression sheepish. "Sorry," he said, and scooped her off her feet. The creatures leaped, but Mikey was faster. April clung to him as he leaped back up the shaft; the impact of his feet as he used the various pipes and cables as launching points reverberated through her entire body. And then they were at the top of the shaft, the other three turtles staring anxiously as Mikey set her on her feet.

Raph glanced down, and his eyes widened. "They're coming up the wall!"

Donnie reached out and grabbed her hand, and the five of them fled down the tunnel. Behind them, the cries of the creatures sounded a fierce warning. They darted into a side tunnel they had passed by on their original course here, and the lights were still on in this one, but as the ratroaches pursued them, the lights here, too, flickered and went dark.

April was pushing herself to the limit, but her breath was short, and her legs were burning, and slowly she and Donnie were falling behind the others.  _I'm holding him back_ , she realized, and the cries of the pursuing ratroach swarm grew louder.

Donnie must have realized the same thing at nearly the same moment, because he turned with that frightening ninja grace. "Sorry," he said, without ever pausing in the fluid move, jammed his shoulder into her midsection, and hoisted her up over his shoulder.

She clung to him as he ran, struggling to catch the breath he'd driven out of her. She still clutched the reader in one hand, and she reached out the other to wrap fiercely around the belt at his back. Donnie clamped her legs hard with the hand that wasn't holding his weapon, but she didn't really mind the pain if it kept her on his back and away from the swarm. He caught up easily with his brothers, and they fairly flew down the tunnel. Darting through a break in the wall, they were suddenly out of the subway system and into the sewers.

But the ratroaches kept on coming.

They were gaining now, and as April braced herself against Donnie's shell to get a clear view, she could see the one in the lead gathering for a leap. "Donnie, look out!"

As the creature threw itself toward them, Donnie spun, his bō lashing out in a lethal arc, caving in the ratroach's skull. They landed, completing the spin, and April had an unobstructed view of the exploding ratroach, which at least took out a few of the other creatures in the lead.

"Thanks," Donnie said, starting to sound a little breathless. "That was some good teamwork." He drew in a sharp breath. "Hold on tight, okay?"

"What?" April asked, but even as she did, she could feel the powerful muscles beneath her coiling in preparation. In another moment, Donnie leaped, and April found herself looking down into an impossibly long drop into nothingness. Her heart stopped as she watched stormwater pouring into the abyss, knowing that if they went with it, nothing would save them.

They landed hard, strong green hands grabbing at them from all sides, steadying them until Donnie found his balance again. Donnie set her down, and they turned to watch the approaching horde. The ratroaches in the lead continued on headlong, screaming as they fell into the churning darkness. The others managed to halt at the brink and paced along the ledge, shrieking at their untouchable prey.

"Well," said Mikey. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm never sleeping again."

"Come on," said Leo, taking April's shoulder gently. "Let's get out of here."

Behind them, that impossibly loud, impossibly strong cry roared back in defiance.

* * *

 

"[Ratroaches](http://queenbean03.tumblr.com/post/37923054693/rat-roach-sketches)" by queenbean03

"[Just wanted to help Donnie](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/Just-Wanted-To-Help-Donnie-383743817)" by heartofanalterego

"Ratroach phase 2" from a WIP by [Mizu-inu](http://mizu-inu.deviantart.com/)

"[So am I](http://fumogena.tumblr.com/post/47646904293/h-hah-ah-ha-im-obsessed-oops)" by fumogena

[First Sighting](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/First-Sighting-529576437) by HeartOfAnAlterEgo

 

[The Best Episode Ever](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/The-Best-Episode-Ever-532015282) by [HeartOfAnAlterEgo](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of episode 6, this show continues to make me stupidly happy, but oh, show, will you PLEASE give me a scene in which April and Splinter actually talk to each other? Oh, and the Astronautalis song is a real thing, too. I love that the creators are clearly making the show both for kids, and for their parents who grew up with the original TMNT run and are watching it with them.


	6. From the Sewer (Act 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which alliances are forged, foes are vanquished, and Leo makes dorky Space Heroes metaphors.

**From the Sewer: Act Three**

* * *

After spending so long in the dark, even the weak lights that dotted the tunnels at intervals seemed blinding. April trusted in her friends to guide her, forcing her exhausted feet to keep moving until their ragged group took refuge in an abandoned subway station. The floor was thick with dust and grime, but she couldn't find enough energy to care as she sank down against the wall and wrapped her hands around her knees. She'd lost her hair tie somewhere in the tunnels, and strands now fell around her face as she bowed her head.

A soft touch on her hands brought her attention back to the present, and she found herself the focus of concerned blue eyes.

"How are you holding up?" Leo asked.

"Fine," she said, lowering her knees. "Just kind of letting everything catch up with me."

Leo smiled at her. "You were pretty great back there. Where'd you learn to think on your feet like that?"

April shrugged. "My dad does the absent minded professor thing a lot. After mom—" she shook herself. "Well, let's just say he used to do a lot of things like put lunch on the stove and then forget about it once he got working." She grinned. "If you think I'm good with an umbrella, you should see me with a fire extinguisher. I wield a mean fire extinguisher."

Leo laughed. "That bad, huh?"

"Hey, I was the only girl on the block who was on a first name basis with the guys in the local firehouse. They used to let me ride the truck."

A loud crash interrupted them, and they turned to see that Donnie had pulled the metal cover off an electrical box on the wall and was using several of the wires from the box in an attempt to repair their last broken flashlight.

Leo rose to his feet and approached his brother. "So, any idea how many of these things we're looking at?"

"Mmm," said Donnie, distracted. "Based on the volume we just fought, I'd say we're looking at two, three hundred, easy."

"Yeah, thanks for that, Chief," said Raph. "Good call on dumping that mutagen down the drain." Leo just glared at him, but they'd attracted Donnie's attention.

"What I don't get is how these particular mutants ended up existing in the first place," said Donnie.

"Dude, what's to get?" said Mikey. "Animal A, plus animal B, plus mutagen equals hideous monster. Like Raph." He ducked as Raphael took a swipe at him.

"But that's just it," said Donnie. "I mean, I've always figured that the mutagen must perform some recombination of any DNA it comes into contact with. Like with us, the last thing that touched us before we were exposed was Master Splinter, so there would have been some of his residual DNA on us that recombined with our own genetic code to make us what we are now."

Leo frowned. "So why isn't there any turtle in Master Splinter?"

"Have you met our  _sensei_?" said Raph. "I don't think it's possible for him to get any cleaner and still live in a sewer. He totally would have washed his hands after he touched us."

"So there was no turtle DNA to recombine. And then there was Snake and plants he was standing in, and then the angry guy and the spiders in the warehouse." Donnie folded one arm across his chest, holding his chin with the other. "But I always figured that human DNA was a key component in the process. Otherwise, why didn't any of the other stuff in the alley get mutated when the mutagen fell? And there had to have been bugs around in those weeds Snake was in, but there were no weed-flies or anything weird like that. If the Kraang are running around disguised as humans, it would follow that the mutagen is designed specifically for experimentation on the human species."

April had been listening to Donnie's theorizing with an increasing sense of horror, but it was slowly being overtaken by rage. How dare they come to her planet and do this? And now her dad was involved, and she had no idea if he was being experimented on or not. "Aaargh!" she exclaimed. "I  _hate_  the Kraang! I swear, if I ever get my hands on one of those stupid alien brains, I am going to punch it in its stupid brain face until it cries for its stupid brain mommy!" She froze in her diatribe, aware that the room had gone silent, and blushed. "Sorry."

All of the turtles were staring at her, wide-eyed and unsettled, save for Raphael, who had an astonished grin on his face. "Okay," he said. "I  _like_  this girl." He dropped down to the floor next to her and punched her lightly in the arm, taking the sting out of the embarrassment she had felt following her outburst.

Leo looked back at Donnie. "If human DNA is necessary for the mutation process, why do we have ratroaches now?"

"Search me," said Donatello. "I'm not exactly an expert."

April's gaze had come to rest on Donnie's duffel bag. A frayed length of cable still stuck out from it, and her eyes widened. "Wait, the rats and cockroaches are being pushed up from the lower levels by the storm, right?" The turtles were staring at her, but now that she had the idea, she was running with it. She got to her feet and pulled the cable out of Donnie's bag. "So what if a rat that had been in contact with the cockroaches was chewing on a cable during a lightning strike?"

Donatello took the cable from her and scrutinized it. "You know, that just might explain it," he said. "The resultant power surge could have acted as a catalyst for the mutation process." He paced for a minute. "No, no, that makes sense! That explains why the ratroaches are developing the glowing and bioelectrical abilities!"

Raph folded his arms. "It frightens me that you were just able to use the words 'ratroaches' and 'that makes sense' in the same sentence."

"They were two different sentences," said Donnie offhandedly, not really paying attention. "And maybe that also explains the whole exploding thing. The mutagen was never meant to be used this way, so the ratroach mutation is unstable. That's why they're still developing new mutations, and why they can't maintain structural cohesion after they die." He stopped and placed a hand on his head. "But no, there were hundreds of these things! What are the odds that they were all chewing on a cable at the same time as a lightning strike?"

Leo raised a brow. "Glowing slime-coated electrical rat cockroaches, and  _that's_  the part you have trouble with?"

"What if it didn't need hundreds of rats for the mutation?" said April. "What if it only took one?" The turtles looked at her quizzically, and she held out her hands. "What are the rats and cockroaches of this city famous for? Their ability to reproduce. We all heard that noise in the tunnels; there's clearly something much bigger out there. So what if the original mutation was just one giant ratroach, and she's like, their supermom."

"There is a monster queen?" Mikey gasped. "It really  _is_  like  _From the Sewer_  issue 163!" He threw up his hands. "Fine, you guys can risk your brains all you want, but I'm protecting mine!"

Raph watched Mikey storm off into the recesses of the station. "If those ratroaches can find anything between his ears other than daylight…"

"I hear you," said Donnie.

"Wait a second," said Leo. "This queen thing was created by the mutagen that Mikey and I lost?"

"Most likely," said Donnie.

April counted on her fingers, starting to realize where Leo was going. "Just how fast would she have to be reproducing for there to be that many ratroaches already?"

The three turtles exchanged a horrified look. "We gotta stop it," said Raph.

"These things can't be allowed to reach the surface," Leo agreed, and took April's injured hand. "Just a drop off of one of them did this to April. If these things hit topside, even if they don't attack anyone, there's no telling how many people are going to get seriously hurt."

"So we take out the queen," said Raph.

"You say that now, but if you go in there without protection, I'm telling you, the monster queen's minions are going to eat your brain." Mikey returned to the group, planting his hands on his hips. "The only one who's protected right now is me!" He'd managed to find one of the convex mirrors from a stairwell and had converted it into a kind of hat, held on by yellow caution tape and festooned with discarded foil wrappers.

Donatello smacked his face into his palm.

"Mikey…" Leo began.

Mikey's face fell, and his lip began to tremble in defiance. "You're just gonna brush me off again, aren't you?" He crossed his arms. "It's not fair.  _How come nobody ever takes me seriously?_ " As he ramped himself up to tantrum levels, April quietly reached down, picked up the polished steel panel that Donnie had ripped off the electrical box, and held the reflective surface up in front of her. Mikey froze in mid-diatribe, his eyes locked to his reflection. "Oh," he said, visibly deflating. Meekly, he took himself off to another corner of the station.

Donnie stared at April. "Did she just figure out how to shut Mikey up without even having to smack him?"

Leo exchanged a look of awe with his brothers. "I think she did."

"That's it." Raph planted a hand on April's head. "We are  _so_  keeping this one."

* * *

It was dark. Too long in the dark. But wait, her eyes were closed. Was she sleeping? April struggled to remember. Right. They'd sent Donnie, as the only one with a useable weapon, back to try to find the others something they could use against the ratroaches which wouldn't result in sudden electrocution. Leo had suggested that April rest a while until Donnie got back. She'd leaned against a wall for a minute. Then, nothing. Though despite what had happened throughout the night, she felt surprisingly...good.

Gradually, April became aware of the sensation of someone gently stroking her hair. Which was probably why she was so relaxed. Memories surfaced, slowly. Memories of her father doing the same when she was little, and scared of the dark, and his hands could soothe her fears and chase bad dreams away. Though this hand on her head was bigger. Much bigger. And had three fingers.

She became aware, too, that her head was resting on something both soft and hard at once, and slightly rough. She was curled on her side, her hand resting on the same something. But she was too comfortable to move, or even open her eyes. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

Something clattered nearby. Something else rustled, and she heard a relieved voice say, "Donnie."

Another voice, harsher and more irritated. "Took you long enough."

A third. Breathless. "Sorry. Those things are everywhere. They cut me off at Canal, and Franklin, and Wall Street. I had to go all the way to—" More clattering. "Mikey!  _Stop_ that!"

"What?" This voice was directly above her, making it loud enough that it started breaking her tenuous hold on sleep. "She's all warm and soft and stuff." The hand on her hair moved again. "Like a kitty."

"Really?" The outrage gone from the other voice, replaced by envious curiosity. "Hey, let me try—" A smacking sound echoing through the room. " _Ow!"_

"Knock it off." The irritated voice again, closer now. Then a new hand on her shoulder, shaking her, but not ungently. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up."

April managed to get out an incredibly intelligent "muh?" as she slid uncontrollably into waking. She blinked blearily, and found herself staring into Raph's face. He grinned at her and tousled her hair before he stood and left her to the arduous task of waking up completely. As she pushed herself up off the pillow that she now realized was Mikey's leg, she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"How long was I out?"

"About an hour," answered Leo.

"You sleep like a rock," added Raph.

"Survival skill," she said. "Dad runs a lot of noisy experiments, and some of them can last for days." Yawning, she dragged herself fully upright and copied Mikey's cross-legged seat on the floor. She smiled at him. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said, grinning at her and lacing his hands behind his head.

Raph offered her a hand up. "Hey, you got Mikey to sit still for more than five minutes, so you did us a favour, too."

Mikey stuck out his tongue. "You're still just jealous of my monster hat."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Guys, focus please." Leo shifted his weight, clearly agitated. "Donnie, what did Splinter say?"

The silence that answered the question was long and loaded with unspoken implications. As it continued, Raph left off his teasing, all his attention focused on his brothers. Behind him, Mikey rose to his feet and moved to stand next to April with a very un-Mikey-like stillness.

"Donnie?" Leo asked quietly.

Donatello looked at him, helplessly. "He wasn't there, Leo."

This silence spoke even more. They looked at each other, each one of them unsure as to how they should break it. Then Raph said, "but that doesn't mean anything. He could have been cut off, like we were when we were getting April."

"That's gotta be it," said Donnie.

"Wait." Mikey looked from one to the other. "Is Master Splinter gonna be okay?"

April regarded the youngest of the turtles, and her throat tightened at the expression on his face. She knew that expression. She'd seen it in the mirror often enough over the course of the past week. Wordlessly, she placed a hand on his arm. He didn't move, didn't even look to acknowledge her, but his hand came up to cover hers, and he held on as tightly as he could without hurting her.

Leo didn't miss the exchange, either. His fists clenched at his sides, though his expression deliberately softened. "He's going to be just fine, Mikey."

Raph looked at his youngest brother, and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Of course he is. Since when has our  _sensei_  ever run into anything he couldn't handle?"

"We're  _all_  going to be just fine," said Leo, and his expression hardened again. "We're going to find that queen, wipe it out, and then we're going to find our  _sensei._  Donnie, any sign of where the queen might be hiding?"

"Nadda," Donnie answered. "If it's retaining behaviours from the original animals from which it was derived, chances are good that there's a nest somewhere. If we can get to it and upset the queen enough, she may even call the others back. Which gives us the chance to light that nest up like a Christmas tree."

Raph grinned. "And I'm trusting you brought what you needed to do that."

Donnie returned the expression and patted his bag. "Donatello's home demolitions, at your service."

"Great," said Mikey. "So now we just have to find the nest. That can't be that hard." He looked at the others. "How many tunnels can there be under this city?"

"At last estimate?" Donnie thought for a minute. "There are two hundred and nine miles of track in the system."

Mikey stared at him. "Okay. So maybe it's a little hard."

Donatello frowned, thinking. "There's got to be a way to narrow it down. We know where they've been and what direction they were travelling in…. darn it!" He punched a fist into his palm. "This would be so much easier if I had a map."

Leo asked Donnie a question, but April was no longer listening. She'd gone very cold at Donnie's last outburst. Slowly, she withdrew her hand from Mikey's grip and went to the backpack she'd left against the wall. Opening it carefully, she pulled out her much-folded map. As she unfolded the pages, she found herself faced with reams of her carefully-worded post-its, so many that they obscured the streets and subways of the city itself. They were the result of hours of obsession, chasing down half-baked ideas and random hunches. Hours of sitting in her room, alone, agonizing over minute details.

She looked over at the four brothers as they stood together, arguing animatedly. Faced with the possible disappearance of their father, they were still determined to act. To save the people of a city that didn't know they existed, and would probably hunt them down if they did. She looked down again at the map.

Her hand moved. A sharp, angry motion. A flurry of post-its drifted like coloured snow to the floor of the abandoned station.

"Here, Donnie."

Donatello broke off as April held out the map, and a beatific grin spread across his face. "April, this is perfect!" He grabbed the map from her and spread it out across the floor. Digging into his bag, he pulled out a marker and tore off the cap with his teeth. "Okay, so we ran into them here, travelling in this direction…" he marked it on the map. "Here, and here. And I found them here, here, and here." He sat back on his heels, scowling at the map. The others gathered around, scrutinizing his careful annotation. Donnie's brow furrowed. "There's not enough. There's still too many places they could be."

April, who had been studying the map with the rest of them, sank to her knees next to Donatello. "No, there aren't." She took the marker from him and drew a line across one of the subway routes. "They made an announcement when I was in the station waiting to meet you guys. The 6 train was diverting due to electrical issues in the tunnels." She used the pen to draw out the loop at the end of the line that the 6 train used to turn around and head back uptown. Donnie met her eyes, an expression of astonishment creeping across his face as he followed her reasoning to its conclusion, but she finished her thought anyway. "They're in the ghost station under City Hall."

"You," Donnie breathed, "are absolutely brilliant."

" _Ghost_  station?" Mikey yelped.

Raph smacked him upside the head. "She means abandoned, you idiot. You live in one."

" _We live in a **ghost** station?_ "

Leo rose to his feet. "Gentlemen, we have a target. These ratroaches won't know what hit them."

The lights overhead flickered. A moment later, with no further warning, they went out, plunging the station into darkness.

* * *

The sudden loss of power was met with a bloodcurdling scream from the darkness. Leo tensed, instinctively kicking over into battle-readiness, even without an enemy to fight.

"It's okay, April," came Donnie's soothing voice from Leo's left. "I've got you."

"That wasn't me." April's voice was sharp with annoyance.

The scream sounded again. "The ghost has got me!"

"Ow!" Donnie again. "Mikey, that's me!  _I've_ got you- ow, will you— _Stop hitting me!_ "

"Oh, no!  _You guys, the ghost has possessed Donnie!"_

" _Ow! Mikey!_ "

"I got this," said Raph, his words followed almost immediately by the sound of a smack.

" _OW!_ " Donnie was reaching heights he only hit when truly angry. "Will all of you  _please_  stop hitting me!"

"What the— _ow_! Who stepped on my foot?"

"Stop pulling my mask!"

"Whoever's got his hand in there has  _three seconds_  to get it out again!"

Leo hid his head in his hands as he listened to his brothers degenerate into a wall of noise. Why didn't they ever show Captain Ryan during the years when he was trying to learn how to lead an away mission? Then again, if he'd had these kinds of problems, his entire team would probably have been eaten by Denuvian hyper-worms before they'd gotten off their first planet.

There was a quiet sigh from the dark next to him, and April muttered under her breath, "…boys."

Lowering his hands to his sides, Leo breathed, deeply and evenly. Tuning out the noise of his brothers' fighting, he let Splinter's words drift into his mind.

_Refrain from raising your voice in anger, Leonardo. One voice shouted into a crowd is lost in the babble, and ultimately means nothing—_

"—oh yeah? Why don't you say that to my face, you stupid—"

_-but wait until you are really angry, and then raise it a lot. Then people will know you are serious._

Fists clenched at his sides, Leo drew in one last, deep breath.

_"THAT'S ENOUGH!"_

In the stunned silence that descended, Leo was finally able to get a word in edgewise. "Guys, you are  _ninjas._  Act like it! This is no different than when we have to do training sessions blindfolded. I swear, the only one who isn't a total embarrassment to ninjutsu right now is April, and she's not even a ninja!"

"Thanks," said April.

"You're welcome. Donnie, you got one of the flashlights working, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Hang on." Donnie fumbled in his bag for a moment, and the darkness was suddenly driven away by the weak beam of their single working light. The beam fell upon Mikey, who had wrapped himself around Raphael. Giving Mikey a disgusted glance, Raph planted his hand on Mikey's head and shoved him off.

"Okay," said Leo. "That's one problem down. Now, weapons. Donnie, what did you find?"

"Mostly our old practice gear, and some of the stuff we never really liked using." Donnie said, gesturing at the pile he'd dropped earlier in order to yell at Mikey for treating April like his own personal pet. Donnie knelt by the pile, and the first things he dug out were Mikey's old nunchucks. The pair were made of wood connected by cable, not as heavy or as deadly as Mikey's current pair, but effective nonetheless, and Mikey wouldn't have to make that much of an adjustment to his current fighting style.

Donnie tossed them to Mikey, who caught them with evident glee. "Hello, ladies! Did you miss me?" Kissing the weapons fondly, he set about making room for them in his belt next to his current pair. "No fighting, now. There's plenty of Mikey to go around."

"Oy." Raph rolled his eyes and made his way to the pile, pulling out a pair of wooden tonfa. "This is going to take some getting used to." Grumbling, he made his way over to a corner to practice, but his balance looked good. Leo nodded in approval.

"Here, Leo. I managed to find these for you." Donnie held up Leo's old bokken.

Leo raised a brow as he took the wooden practice swords from his brother. "Wow. It's been a while."

"Tell me about it," said Donnie. "You have no idea how deep I had to dig to find those." His voice changed a little as he picked up the last thing he'd brought with him. "April, I brought something for you, too." Grinning, Donnie handed her Mikey's baseball bat.

April took it with a skeptical expression. "Seriously?"

"Sure," said Leo. "Ever played whack-a-mole?"

She looked at the bat. "So hit the thing until it stops moving, and then run away to avoid the explosion. Got it."

The eagerness of her expression tore at him a little, and made what he had to say next even harder. "Good. At least, where you're going, you shouldn't have to worry about it too much."

That was enough to get the attention of the others. Raph and Mikey left off their respective weapons inspections, and Donnie rose to his feet, placing a protective hand on April's shoulder. "Wait, where is she going?"

"Yeah," April echoed. "Where am I going?"

 _This isn't that hard, Leo. Captain Ryan makes decisions like these ones all the time._  But Captain Ryan didn't have to deal with the expression on April's face, which was actually kind of terrifying. Leo swallowed and tried not to let it show. "You're going back to the lair to wait this thing out in Donnie's lab. The walls are reinforced steel, which we know from experience can withstand a pretty hefty explosion—"

"You promised you'd stop bringing that up!" Donnie protested.

"—so they should be able to keep out any ratroaches that may wander through while we deal with the nest."

"What about the paranoid ninja master thing?" Raph demanded. "Isn't that why we brought her with us in the first place?"

"That was when our choices were paranoid ninja master versus standing around watching Donnie fix cables. Now our options are paranoid ninja master versus horde of carnivorous skin-melting vermin monsters."

"Ah," said Raph. "That's a heck of a good point."

"No," said April, "not a good point. I want to stay and help!" She clutched the bat, her fingers turning white. "What happened to 'good on my feet?'" She turned to Donatello. "Donnie, tell him."

Leo watched the conflict play across Donnie's face. As much as he knew his brother wanted April by his side, Donnie also had to know that the lair was the safest place for her. "April—"

"It's okay, Donnie." Leo stuck the bokken through his belt and stepped back, arms wide. "Hit me, April."

She blinked at him. "What?"

"Use the bat. Pretend I'm one of those things. Hit me."

Raphael laughed. "These chances don't come around a lot, April. Don't waste this."

Her eyes narrowed, and she hoisted the bat over her shoulder. She braced herself for a minute, watching him, waiting for him to try something, but he just stood there patiently, content to let her make the first move. Finally, she let out a yell and came at him.

He waited until she was almost on top of him, never moving an inch. Then, as she swung the bat at him, he stepped aside. She staggered as her momentum carried her forward, and he turned as he stepped, planting his foot solidly in the middle of her back. It wasn't hard – it wasn't even enough to be called a kick, really, though Raph and Mikey had to hold Donnie back at that moment to keep him from coming after Leo – but it was enough to send her sprawling on her face. In a heartbeat, he was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She attempted to struggle, but stilled as he laid the blade of his katana against her neck.

"This is how good I am," he said quietly, not wanting the others to hear, "and I'm worried about  _my_  chances against the nest. How do you think you measure up?"

In one movement, he sheathed his sword and stood up. She rolled over, bracing herself on her elbows, and glared up at him, her expression a war of embarrassment, hurt, and acceptance. Wordlessly, Leo held out his hand to her. She fought with herself for another moment, and then grudgingly took his hand.

He pulled her to her feet, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It isn't that we don't want you with us, April…"

"I know." She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "I get it." She frowned, and then a new expression crossed her face. Her eyes widened, and her hand came up to grip his. Hard. "Leo?"

He followed her gaze to the tracks the subway had once used to pull into the station. And the light slowly building up in the tunnel beyond. A high, shrieking whine echoed off the tunnel walls.

"They're here!" He grabbed April and thrust her toward Michelangelo. "Mikey, you're the fastest. Get April to the lair and get back to us as soon as you can. We'll cover you."

"Here." Raph pressed the flashlight into April's hand and helped her into her backpack. She stuck the bat into the same pocket she'd been using for her umbrella. Grabbing the tonfa from where he'd dropped them, Raph launched himself toward Leo, calling back over his shoulder, "And be sure you take Spike into the lab with you!"

"Spike?" said April.

Mikey skidded to a halt next to her, one of his wooden nunchucks already in his hand. "I'll explain later."

"Mikey, catch!" Donnie tossed him an old military radio, part of a pair they'd rescued from the dump years ago. "So you can find us later!" He frowned at the twin in his hand, held together with duct tape and more than a little chewing gum. "I have got to come up with a better alternative to these things."

"Later, Donnie!" Leo drew his bokken. "Mikey, go!"

Wide-eyed, but serious for once, Mikey gave him a quick nod and grabbed April's hand. As Mikey tugged her away into the other tunnel, Leo turned his back on them, trusting his brother to get their friend to safety. Donnie and Raph ranged out beside him as they turned to face the oncoming horde, desperate to give the two the time they needed to escape.

"So, Leo," Raph said conversationally. "Next time you get the chance to dump a container of mutagen into a cockroach-and-rat infested sewer—"

"Shut up," Leo said between gritted teeth, and leaped forward to meet the first of the oncoming swarm.

* * *

 

"So Spike is just an ordinary turtle?" April was rather proud of the fact that she was only panting a little as she ran behind Mikey. They'd reattached the flashlight to the valence reader, and she was keeping an eye on it as she ran, gripping the bat in her other hand.

"Don't let Raph hear you say that," said Mikey. "You could offer him a robot mecha turtle with night vision and flamethrowers, and he'd still think Spike was cooler."

April watched Mikey's vision glaze over momentarily. She raised a brow. "You're wanting a robot mecha turtle right now, aren't you?"

"It would be sooooo cool," Mikey sighed. His attention snapped to the valence reader. " _Ping_!"

Without missing a step, Mikey ricocheted off the wall, launching himself into a flip over April's head to take down the glowing ratroach that was lurking in the mouth of an open pipe. As the grotesquely mutated body began to swell, he used his nunchucks to swing himself around a beam supporting the tunnel, using the momentum to launch himself toward April and yank her out of the way of the explosion. He hit the ground running, setting April back on her feet. "If you could have a robot anything, what would it be?"

"I dunno," April said, conscious of the fact that her pace starting to flag. "I always liked that show about the guy with the talking car. Never cared about the guy much, but I thought the car was pretty awesome." As another glowing horror leaped off of a pipe on the ceiling, April clocked it with the bat, knocking it straight into Mikey's roundhouse kick.

"Hey, I think I remember that one!" He grabbed her hand as the creature hit the wall hard, hauling her forward out of the explosion range. "Didn't the car turn into a boat?"

"Unfortunately. That was in the second season, though." April stumbled a little, really starting to get tired. Mikey still had hold of her hand, and without even slowing down, he tugged on her arm. April wasn't even sure how he did it, but in a lightning-quick series of moves, he had her on his back, his hands clasped underneath her to keep her from falling off. With a yelp of surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck, still holding the valence reader and the bat.

"Hey, that's perfect! Now I can really see if it goes  _ping_!" He shifted her a bit, settling her more comfortably. "I'll have to put you down if it does, though. Ninja stuff works better when your hands are free. Most of the time. Hey, is it just me, or is it getting harder to read?"

April frowned at it over his shoulder. "I think you're right. Don't tell me the batteries are going."

They came to a river in the floor of the sewer tunnel, and with a soft grunt, Mikey had them up and over it almost before April had even registered it was there. He swerved to the left, down a narrower tunnel, and a deeper, heavier rushing sound started to fill the air. She tried to ignore the chills that ran down her back as Mikey bore her closer and closer to the sound.

"Hey, April, what's the thingy say?"

She glanced at the screen, squinting now. "Looks like we're clear. None of those things around. At least for a while."

"Oh, good." Mikey slowed, and set her on her feet. "This is the tricky part. It's gonna be  _way_  easier without Chompy McBiteypants hanging around."

April winced. "Let's just stick with 'ratroaches'."

Disappointment clouded Mikey's features as he led her around a corner. "Aww. I'm starting to get really bored with that name."

He turned another corner, and April stumbled to a halt. The small tunnel they were traversing ended abruptly at a wall. Part of the wall had crumbled away, leaving a narrow passage through darkness, and below the jagged gap in the wall, the flashlight beam illuminated a torrent of filthy water. The only way through the passage and across the water appeared to be a terrifyingly thin, rusted pipe that had been left exposed when the wall crumbled.

April's voice sounded painfully quiet in the confines of the tunnel. "Please tell me we don't have to go through that."

"Donnie said this is the fastest way that isn't blocked off," Mikey said, completely relaxed in contrast to April's rising apprehension. "Don't worry, it opens up again on the other side when we're back on the subway tracks. We just have to go one at a time." As a demonstration, he jumped to the pipe and ran across it with the speed and dexterity of a trained ninja. It creaked a little, and April watched flakes of rust fall into the dark current below. Leaping to the ground on the other side with a flourish, he turned back to her. "It's easy!"

"I think my definition of 'easy' may not be the same as yours," she said.

"You can totally do this, April. It's not that far. Here, toss me the bat and the vein thingy, and you can use the walls to help you get over."

Uncertain, April tossed them both over. She had to throw fairly hard to get them across the entire distance, but Mikey caught them easily. Setting the bat aside, he turned the flashlight to illuminate her path and gave her an encouraging grin.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "You can do this, April. It can't be worse than the train thing."

Reaching out a hand, she took hold of the bricks bordering the narrow passage and pulled herself up onto the pipe. Cautiously, she inched her way along the rusted metal, her breath loud in her ears. She looked up once, quickly, but Mikey still seemed impossibly far away. "Okay," she whispered. "It's worse than the train thing." Her hand dug into the bricks beside her. They were slick with spray from the water below, and algae, and who-only-knew what else. As she brought up her other hand to steady her, something crawled out from between her fingers. April gasped, recoiling, and felt her foot slip on the spray-slicked metal.

She screamed, her fingers scrabbling on the brick.  _The helicopter. Falling. Concrete rushing up to meet her._ She managed to halt her fall, bringing her foot back onto the pipe, clinging to the bricks for all she was worth. As she gasped for breath, she could hear nothing but the sound of her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Then, gradually, she became aware that Mikey was shouting her name.

"Mikey?" she said weakly.

Relief darted across his panicked features. "You got this, April," he said, holding out his hand. "Just a few more feet."

April shook her head, trembling so hard that she could hardly believe the pipe hadn't dropped out from beneath her feet. "I don't think I can." She met his eyes, and she could feel the blood draining from her face. "I don't think I can move."

"You have to," he said, sounding nervous for the first time. "I can't come get you, April. It won't hold us both. It's just a few steps."

She dug her fingers into the wall, feeling a few of her nails break against the crumbling brick. She tried to move her feet. She really did. But the fear had locked up her joints tighter than a bank vault, and as soon as she even thought of moving, she was falling from the helicopter again. "I can't."

Staring at her steadily, Mikey unhooked the radio from his belt. "Uh, guys? We've got a problem."

A burst of noise screeched from the radio, followed by Donnie's breathless voice.  _"Seriously, Mikey? Not a good time, here—Raph! On your six!"_

"You're gonna wanna hear this, Donnie."

_"Mikey, whatever it is, handle it yourself! Leo! Behind-"_

The radio went silent, and Mikey rolled his eyes, holding down the talk button again. "April's in trouble."

_"...WHAT? Why didn't you say that in the first place! Guys, we need to wrap this up, NOW!"_

A few breathless moments passed. Mikey began humming a little tune under his breath. After another minute, April recognized it as the theme song to the show about the robot car. Finally, the radio squawked to life again.  _"—yeah, I don't see glowing either, I think we got them all. Now, Mikey, what about April? WHAT DID YOU DO?"_

"It's the 14th street pipe crossing," said Mikey. Raising his brows, he held the radio out to her, holding the button down.

April drew a shaking breath. "Donnie? I—I'm stuck. I can't move. I'll fall."

Another minute of silence.  _"April, listen to me. It's okay."_

April's eyes widened.  _A green, three-fingered creature looming over her, coming toward her as she screamed. "It's okay." His voice gentle. Safe._ She shook her head, unsettled by déjà vu. "But—"

_"You can do this April. I know you can. You're not going to fall."_

_"Oh, for the—gimme that!"_  The sounds of a scuffle burst intermittently from the radio, followed by a few tooth-grinding shrieks. Finally, the radio crackled again, this time with Raph's brusquer tones.  _"April, listen up. You get your butt across that pipe now, and I'll make you a deal. Next time we fight the Kraang, I will personally hold one down for you so you can punch the squishy alien filling till your hand hurts."_

_"Raph! That's a terrible thing to say!"_

_"Bite me, Leo."_

Mikey, staring at the radio in wonderment, looked back at April. Biting her lip, she nodded. He held out the radio, button down.

"You promise?" she asked.

The fighting on the other end halted, and Raph came back on.  _"Ninja's honour."_

Squaring her shoulders, April pushed off from the wall, wobbling for a moment before she set her jaw and clenched her fists. "Mikey, get outta my way."

* * *

They were running again. Of course. Mikey had slowed his pace a little to keep even with her, occasionally turning around to run backward, as he was now. "So we've covered kissing that dude in your math class who doesn't know how to use a toothbrush, and licking a metal pole in January. What else would you do that you're scared of for the chance to punch a Kraang?"

April thought about it for a minute. "For the chance to punch a Kraang…. I'd stick my hand in a beehive."

Mikey laughed. "Okay. For the chance to punch a Kraang…. I'd make fun of Raph's pet turtle."

"Oooh, brave guy." She considered. "For the chance to punch a Kraang, I'd wear parachute pants."

"Whoa!" He held up his hands. "Easy there, April, no need to be a hero."

That got a laugh out of her, too. "Okay, then, for the chance to punch a Kraang, I'd...eat worms."

"Hey," he said seriously. "Don't knock it till you try it. I mean, sure, it's no pizza, but—"

_"MIKEY!"_

Michelangelo let out a surprised yelp as the radio on his belt screeched. He tripped on a rail tie, toppling over backward. As April skidded to a halt next to him and looked down at his prone form, he grabbed the radio and sat up, rubbing his head. "What's up? Where are you guys?"

_"Canal and Broadway. Mikey, there's...coming out of the...ano... we can't..."_

Mikey stood up, placing a hand on April's shoulder. "Donnie, you're breaking up. What—"

_"...have to...hurry in...cut... acro...HELP...look out! RAPH!"_

They could hear a scream of rage in the background, and the radio finally went dead. Mikey pounded on it with his fist. "Donnie? Donnie! Aargh!" He hurled it against the wall. "Stupid piece of junk!" Pacing, he chewed on his nails. "What do I do? What do I  _do?_ What would Leo say?" Pausing, he assumed a pompous voice with a bad attempt at a British accent, which April could only assume was supposed to represent Leo. "'Blah blah, something boring, blah, prepare to stand and face the divine foot of righteous indignation..." He pulled on the knot on his mask. " _This is not helping!"_  In a heartbeat, he turned on his heel and lunged for April, grabbing her by the shoulders. "April! What does the thingy say?"

Having long since gotten lost trying to figure out what Mikey was talking about, April glanced at the reader. It was getting really hard to make out now. "No readings."

He smiled. "Phew!" Taking his hands off her shoulders, he patted her on the head. "I am so sorry, but at least we made it to the entry tunnel. Just go the exact same way you went when Donnie and Raph brought you here, and you'll be fine."

April struggled to follow Mikey's disjointed train of thought. "But—"

He hugged her close, squeezing the breath out of her. "You're totally awesome, and we need to do this again sometime when we're not being chased by brain-eating monsters, but right now, my brothers need me!"

He dropped her, and she gasped for air. "But—"

Mikey launched himself off the wall, tearing back the way they'd come. "Exact same way you came!" His voice was fading into the darkness. "You're the best, April!"

"But—" She reached after him in futile desperation. Then, she added softly to the listening darkness, "they made me close my eyes on the way in."

She called after him one last time, knowing even as she did so that it was futile. As her voice echoed away to nothing, she clutched her bat tighter and sighed. She'd seen how close the brothers were, for all that they fought almost constantly. She could no sooner keep Mikey away from the others if they were in trouble than she could keep herself...away from her dad.

April sniffed, suddenly missing him terribly. Angrily wiping away the moisture in her eyes that she told herself firmly was  _not_ tears – she would  _not_ cry over this – she turned in place and examined the tunnel. Mikey wouldn't have left her here if the lair wasn't really close by. But she recalled some of the sounds she'd heard when Donnie and Raph had brought her down here, and knew that finding the way in wouldn't be completely straightforward, either. They couldn't have just anyone stumbling across the way in to their home.

She started picking her way carefully down the tunnel, scanning the walls with the flashlight as she went, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She occasionally caught a flicker of movement as a few rats and cockroaches scurried out of her way, but she glanced at the reader's screen and reassured herself that while there may be vermin around, they weren't the people-eating mutant variety.

Rounding a corner, she moved closer to the wall. The entrance  _had_  to be nearby somewhere. Knowing Donnie, there was some kind of trick to it. She shone the flashlight along the wall, looking for a loose cable, or an oddly-placed pipe. Anything. But the walls remained an unhelpful mass of pipes and wiring.

She took another step, and froze as the bulb in the flashlight flickered. "Oh, no," she breathed. It flickered again, growing dimmer as she watched. Donnie had fixed the broken wiring, but that didn't do anything if the batteries were out of juice. She shook the light, rewarded by a brief brightening of the beam, but it quickly began to dim again. "No, no, no, no, no….please…."

Pleading with it was useless. With a final sputter, the light went out.

April was alone, in the dark, somewhere beneath the city, with carnivorous mutant rat-creatures running around and no way to get out.

"Well," she said to the darkness. "This is a heck of a way to spend an evening."

She fumbled her backpack open by feel and tucked the reader into it. The screen didn't have enough illumination for her to read it without a light, and she didn't want to risk tripping and breaking it in the dark. That accomplished, she held her bat with both hands and tried in vain to hear something – anything – that could tell her where she was.

Venturing a tentative step, she heard the skitter along either side of her that told her the vermin in the tunnels weren't having the same navigational problems she was. Trying very hard not to think about what was in the tunnels with her, she started prodding the walls with the bat, hoping against hope that somehow she'd poke some hidden door release and find the lair in the darkness.

"And maybe pigs will fly," she muttered. Then, considering what she'd seen since meeting her four mutant friends, she decided that was probably an expression that needed retiring lest it tempt fate.

Something shifted further down the tunnel. Something much larger than a rat or a cockroach.

April froze, ice creeping through her veins. She listened closely, tuning every fibre of her being to the sound. There it was again. Something very large, moving quietly, coming closer.

Trying to keep her breathing under control, she hefted the bat over her shoulder, clutching it so tightly she was surprised she wasn't leaving cracks in the wood. It couldn't be a ratroach. They glowed now. It couldn't be...

Another gentle rustle. The faintest of sounds. Almost beside her now. April drew a breath. Letting out the most ferocious cry she could muster, she launched herself forward and swung her bat blindly toward the sound.

Something latched onto her wrist in the darkness, twisting it so that the bat dropped from her nerveless fingers. In another heartbeat, the world turned upside down and backward, and she was falling. She landed hard against the tracks, the breath leaving her in a whoosh, and before she could even attempt to get up, an enormous weight descended upon her, pinning her in place, something cold and hard pressing against her chest with the full weight of her attacker behind it.

A voice spoke in the darkness. A voice sharp as steel, and every bit as cold.

_"Who are you, and what have you done with my sons?"_

April drew in a sharp breath. Struggling to find enough air to speak, she managed to squeak out, "Master Splinter?"

A jolt of surprise ran through the weight on top of her, and in another instant, it was gone. As April sucked in a relieved breath, the voice spoke again. This time, it carried with it that combination of warmth, annoyance, relief, and exasperation that only a dad was really capable of.

"Miss O'Neil, I presume?"

* * *

Leo leaned heavily on his bokken as he struggled to catch his second wind. The closer they got to the nest, the faster the waves of ratroaches were coming. The ratroaches seemed to be converging on the nest, and the turtles kept getting caught in the middle. Behind him, he heard Donnie cry out, flagging against the three he currently fought. Catching up his weapons, Leo leaped back into the fray.

"So—" said Raph from his left.

"If this is about losing the canister  _again_ , can it wait for later?" Leo snapped.

"Just sayin'," said Raph, taking out a ratroach with a backhanded swipe. Two more drove him back, and his shell collided with Leo's. "This is getting real old, real fast."

"I know," said Leo, driving into another group, "but we're almost—"

"Leo!" Donnie cried. "Behind you!"

Turning, Leo gasped. The ratroach was already mid-leap from a tunnel on the level above, and his bokken were currently stuck in the ratroach at his feet. He yanked hard, aware that Raph was busy with his own problems, but even as he tugged the wooden swords free, which weren't nearly as fluid as his beloved katana, he knew he wasn't going to get them up in time.

" _Booyakasha!"_

A streak of green took out the ratroach mid-leap. As the ratroach exploded, Raph finished off the pair he was dealing with and looked up. "Huh," he said. "I'm glad to see Mikey. This is a new feeling." Raph squared off with Leo to face the wave coming in from their left.

Grinning, Mikey used the back-swing of his kusarigama to launch himself into the pile threatening Donatello. His wooden nunchucks were in his hands even before he landed, and between the two of them, he and Donnie managed to make quick work of the mass of them. Fanning out, the brothers surrounded the remaining creatures. Leo could feel his vision narrowing, his body singing with the focus that only came at the height of a fight. Mikey called it "ninja-space." Whatever it was, Leo welcomed it, giving himself over to battle.

When the haze cleared, they stood together in the fading glow of the dead creatures. Donnie reached into his bag and pulled out an old subway flare. In its temporary light, Mikey walked over to the hanging chain of his kusarigama, freeing the sickle blade with a practiced yank and retracting it back into its nunchuck configuration.

"And that," said Mikey, "is how it's done."

"I have to admit," said Raph, "that was pretty sweet. You did something right for a change."

"Nice work, Mikey," said Leo, rubbing his brother's head. Mikey grinned proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, really good," said Donnie, clearly not focused on Michelangelo. "Did April make it into the lab okay? Did you tell her not to read my notebooks?" He clenched his hands, pressing them against his mouth. "I really hope she doesn't read my notebooks."

"Forget about that," said Raph, shoving Donnie out of the way. "She took Spike, right?"

Mikey looked from one to the other. "Ummm…."

Leo exchanged a glance with Raph as Donatello very slowly focused his attention on Mikey. Michelangelo's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Donnie—"

"You. Did. Take her. To the lair." Donatello managed to get past his clenched teeth.

"Umm…" Mikey looked at the others, helplessly. "Almost."

_"Mikey!"_

He held up his hands defensively. "You guys said you were in trouble! I had to come!"

"We said there were more than we anticipated and you needed to hurry up and not waste time!"

"Well I didn't know that! The radio was a piece of junk! We were almost there anyway; she just had to follow the tunnel the same way she did when she got here!"

" _She had her eyes closed when she got here!"_

"Oh," said Mikey. "Yeah, that could be a problem."

Raph grabbed Donnie as he lunged for their smallest brother, and Leo planted a hand on Donnie's plastron. "Donnie, calm down."

"No, you're right," Donnie said suddenly, scrabbling for his radio. "We can just call her and let her know how to find the lair."

"Ummm…"

This time, all three older turtles rounded on their brother. " _Mikey!"_

"It was broken!" he protested.

"And it never occurred to you that I could fix it?" Donnie yelled.

"Not really!" Mikey yelled back. "You know I don't think well under pressure!"

"You don't think well  _at all!_ " Donnie let out a howl of frustration and shoved Mikey aside, running toward a side tunnel.

Leo instantly kicked off from the wall, vaulting to put himself in his brother's path. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To get April," Donnie snapped. "Get out of my way, Leo."

"No. Donnie, think about this."

"We can't just leave her alone down here!"

"Use your brain, Donnie. How many more of those things can the queen produce in the time it would take us to get to the lair and back?"

Leo could see the wheels turning in Donnie's head, as much as their resident genius was trying to stop them. Donnie's expression contorted in frustration, and he planted his hands on his head. "Rrrrrragh...  _too many_!" The admission tore its way out of him, and his shoulders sagged.

Leo placed a hand on Donnie's arm. "I know you're worried. I am too. But we have to stop this thing. We know they're all moving toward the nest anyway, that's away from the lair."

"And that girl swings a mean bat," Mikey chimed in.

"Yeah," said Raph, smacking Mikey upside the head. "When this is over, we'll let her swing it at you."

"Mikey just proved that we need all four of us if we're going to get through this," Leo said. "So here's the plan. We raid the nest, kill the queen, destroy the creatures, go find April, track down our  _sensei_ —"

"And a partridge in a pear tree?"

"Not helping, Raph."

Donnie's lip trembled as he glared at Leo. His expression hard, he whipped his bō around and sheathed it. "Fine then. We're wasting time standing around here. Let's go." Turning his back on them, Donnie stormed toward the tunnel that led to City Hall.

As Leo started after his brother, he heard Mikey's plaintive whisper behind him. "I thought you guys were in trouble."

"I know, Mikey," Raph said quietly, and Leo heard him pat Mikey's shell. "You did good."

"I got your back," Mikey offered hopefully.

"Yeah you do. Just next time, think about who's got April's."

Leo sighed as he plunged into the dark after Donatello. Despite his confident words, he really was worried. Fervently, he hoped that April would be okay. And that Splinter never found out that they'd left her alone in the tunnels.

* * *

"…so then Mikey took off, and that's pretty much when you found me."

Splinter frowned as the young woman in the darkness before him finished off her extraordinary tale. "I believe I shall be having words with Michelangelo."

"Don't be too hard on him," she said, her voice anxious. "He was really worried about them—" she broke off as a glowing head poked out of a nearby tunnel. "Hang on." He watched, bemused, as she hefted the bat she had retrieved during the course of her tale and swung with all her might at the creature. He heard the snap as the creature's neck broke, and watched her silhouette race away from the resultant explosion. As the glow faded and darkness returned, she leaned against a tunnel wall. "They were really worried about you, too," she added.

"Hmm, yes," Splinter said. "Certain structural instabilities in the tunnels forced me to take a much more circuitous route home than I am used to." He grimaced. "I shall be writing a sternly worded letter to the public works department."

"So what now?" she asked. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can just sit around while the guys might be in serious trouble."

"Ordinarily, I would say that my sons can take care of themselves," Splinter said. His hand tightened on his staff. "Unfortunately, these are not exactly ordinary circumstances."

"So we can go?" Her voice rang with hope.

Splinter sighed, considering his options. The thought of bringing the child into danger was repulsive to him, and yet to leave her alone in the lair with the creatures on the loose was hardly any better. Yet she had shown that she was more than capable of defending herself from them, at least in smaller numbers. And yet again... When he had returned home to find the lair dark and his sons missing, a void had yawned within him that threatened to stop his heart in his chest. He couldn't abandon his sons now. Nor could he abandon their friend. It seemed there was only one course of action available to him.

"If we go," he said sternly, "you  _will_  do as I say. If I say to run—"

"I'll run," she said. "I promise!"

He sighed again, already beginning to regret the decision. "Very well. We can go."

"Yes!" she cried. "Thank you!"

"Do not thank me yet, Miss O'Neil. I have no idea what I am about to drag you into. Or if we will be coming back."

There was a moment of silence. "Wow," she said finally. "They were right. You  _are_  serious."

He couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Someone has to compensate for Michelangelo." He turned, and immediately stopped as another problem presented itself. He was used to these tunnels. He knew their layout like the back of his hand, and knew how to use the subtle cues in sound and air currents to navigate them in the dark. This girl had no such training.

"If you will permit me, I believe it will be necessary for me to take your hand."

"Oh," she said, surprise in her voice. "Okay, sure."

Splinter hesitated. It had been a long time since he had felt the touch of a human hand. So very long. With an uneasiness that shamed him, he reached for where he knew her hand to be. His fingers brushed against hers, and her hand instinctively wrapped around his. He drew in a sharp breath as a jolt of memory stabbed through him and left him speechless.

_"Go on, Yoshi." Tang Shen's voice, ringing with laughter. "She is a baby, not a china doll. You will not break her." A hand, reaching out, hesitant. Five tiny, perfect fingers wrapping around his own. Capturing his heart as surely as her little fist caught his finger, a hold impossible to break..._

"Master Splinter?"

April's anxious voice pulled him back to himself, and he took a shaking breath. "Forgive me. Some memories are stronger in the dark."

* * *

April's brow furrowed in concern at the sorrow in the voice of her friends' teacher and father. She had been surprised when he took her hand, expecting the scales and three fingers that she had become used to, forgetting that the guys had already mentioned that there was no turtle in him. His hand, instead, was frail, and rough, and the nails were a little long. There was something else that felt odd about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She supposed he must be older than she'd first guessed, though the lightly accented voice didn't sound much like an old man's. It was an oddly comforting voice: warm, even when he was irritated. That was part of why the sudden sadness in it disturbed her so much.

Almost without thinking, she let go of his hand and took his arm, as she had done with her own father so many times. She felt him startle a little when she did it, but a moment later he started down the tunnel, drawing her with him.

"I regret that your visit to our home has been somewhat more...eventful than anticipated," he said.

April laughed. "That's okay. The bits that haven't been completely terrifying have actually been kind of fun." She smiled. "And the guys have been really sweet. Pushy. But sweet."

There was a brief pause, and she could hear trepidation enter his voice. "And you are not afraid of my sons?"

"Of course not!" she said. "I mean, yeah, they freaked me out a little when we first met, and I sorta might have screamed in Donatello's face a couple of times, but I was kind of in the middle of being kidnapped at the time, so I wasn't exactly open to new experiences." She shrugged. "After Donnie saved me from becoming pavement pizza, I kinda figured they weren't out to hurt me."

"And you enjoy their company?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "They're a lot of fun."

He drew a breath in the darkness, and she could feel the tension in his arm. "So it does not bother you that they are turtles?"

And suddenly, April understood. She smiled again and shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Honestly, it's not like I ever forget that they're turtles or anything, but half the time, when I look at them, I'm not seeing the turtles. I'm just seeing the guys, you know?"

She felt him relax, and he chuckled softly. "I know."

"The only time—" She broke off, biting her lip.

Splinter listened, expectant. "Go on."

She let out a breath, trying to find the words to explain. "The only time that changes is when they're fighting. Not all the time, either, but sometimes, there's this moment." She struggled, striving for a way to describe it. "They go blank. Distant. Like the person looking out from their eyes isn't Donnie, or Leo, or Raph, or Mikey anymore." She tapped her bat against her leg a couple times, suddenly needing to fidget. "It's like the ninja takes over and no-one else is home."

Splinter made a speculative noise. "I would think that this, at least, would frighten you."

"It would," she admitted. "Except by the time they look at me again, the guys I know are back." She sighed. "To be honest, meeting them has been the only thing that's made this whole thing with my dad even remotely bearable."

"I am truly sorry for what you have endured," he said, and his voice was gentle. "Our family will do everything in our power to return him to you."

"I know," she said quietly. "Thank you."

"You are most welcome," he said, and for that brief moment in the darkness, she felt completely and utterly safe. As she had once felt with her own father. As she had not felt since the moment the Kraang had torn her from his grasp. Her hold on Splinter's arm tightened a little as she squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to cry. If he noticed, Splinter did her the kindness of not saying anything.

The sounds around them changed as they moved from the abandoned subway tunnels back into the sewer system; April tried not to think too hard about the fact that she was now familiar enough with the sewers that she could recognize them by sound.

"Do you think—" she began, but broke off as a stream of droplets from above landed on her head. "Gross. The leaks in these tunnels are kind of ridiculous."

"The city has not been prepared for the severity of these storms," Splinter said, and muttered, almost to himself, "whatever happened to craftsmanship?"

"At least it's just water," April said. Splinter remained silent, and April frowned. "It  _is_  just water, right?"

"...would it make you happier to believe that?"

"Oh, come on!" She blew her damp hair out of her eyes. "Man, the guys sure know how to show a girl a good—"

Splinter froze, his arm lashing out to block her path. April stopped in her tracks, trying to make out something, anything, in the darkness. Suddenly, she desperately wished that she could see his face.

"Is everything—"

"Shhh!" His rejoinder was sharp, though not directed toward her. He was listening to something.

Her brow furrowing in concentration, April attempted to extend her senses into the dark, trying to make out what had caught his attention. Then, ever so slowly, she heard it too. A deep, low rumble, far off in the tunnel, but coming closer. Fast. The sound of rushing water.

" _Run!"_

Splinter seized her hand, nearly yanking her off her feet as he dragged her down the tunnel. She stumbled, stretching her legs as far as they would go; even then, she had trouble keeping up.  _How does an old man move that fast?_

The streams of water from the ceiling were growing faster and more frequent. They plunged through them regardless, and April's feet began slipping on the slick stone of the tunnels. The roaring behind them was deafening now, and April slowly became aware of the splashing beneath her feet as they ran. Her feet grew increasingly colder as the frigid water and who-only-knew-what-else crept up over her shoes, and all she could do was trust to Splinter as they rushed blindly into the dark.

Something hard struck her shoulder, and she cried out in pain. Splinter let out an oath in Japanese and veered suddenly to the right. A new sound added itself to the chaos. A kind of pattering, like hail on concrete. A low groaning from the ceiling overhead. Something struck her on the head, and as the pain sent bright stars dancing in her otherwise blind vision, she felt a warm trickle running down her face.

Only then did she realize what was happening. The tunnel was coming down around them.

An instant later, Splinter yanked on her arm and did – something. Whatever it was, it sent her flying across the tunnel, tumbling out of control as stone rained down around her. She had a moment to think,  _Donnie will catch me,_  knowing even as she did so that the thought was stupid. Then she hit the ground hard, and her last conscious awareness as the darkness rushed in to claim her mind was of the thundering of stone as the roof of the tunnel collapsed.

* * *

Awareness returned to him piecemeal. Splinter winced, conscious first of the pain in his ankle. Only then did he become aware of the hands on his arm, shaking him. His fragmented state of consciousness was the only thing that saved his assailant from being attacked outright. But even as these thoughts formed, he heard a frantic, near-hysterical whispering from the dark.

"Please wake up, please wake up, oh god, please be okay, oh please, oh please, oh please..."

 _April O'Neil._  The fear in the voice of the child next to him brought him fully back to waking, and he shifted his arm from beneath her grasping hands.

"Calm yourself, Miss O'Neil," he said gently, and winced again as the words sent pain shooting through his head.

She caught her breath, a sound that was half a sob. "Oh, thank goodness. Are you okay?"

"I am fine," he said, and pulled his ankle and tail out from beneath the rubble that trapped it them, drawing a hissing breath as he did so. It was unlikely that his ankle would support him for long, at least for the foreseeable future. "Mildly injured, but I will recover. And you? You cried out."

"Oh, that's nothing. I've just got a bump on the head, that's all."

The faint trace of blood he could scent in the tunnel – a scent he knew full well was not his – belied her statement, but he said nothing. Let her cling to her strength, for if what he suspected was true... He pushed himself up, resting his back on the mountain of rubble that had very nearly buried him. "Well. I supposed we are fortunate that the falling rocks saved us from the flood."

"More stuff to say to public works?" she ventured.

That startled a laugh from him. "It will be a  _very_  strongly-worded letter." He shifted, trying to make his ankle more comfortable. "I need you to do something for me. Can you walk the length of the tunnel and tell me what you can discover?"

"Of course," she said. A wet squelching heralded her footsteps as she moved past him. "It feels like the tunnel is pretty blocked on this end." She traversed the pile of rubble, careful not to step on him, until she reached the opposite wall. "Yeah. Total cave in."

"And the other end?"

She hesitated. "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't."

Soft shuffling sounds told him that she was moving again, feeling her way along the tunnel wall. She made it about twenty feet before she stopped. "There's bars at this end," she said. Splinter's heart sank. Unaware of his dismay, she continued to explore. "Hey, they're pretty far apart!" He heard a shuffling, followed by a triumphant cry. "No problem! We can fit through!"

He had felt the delicacy in the frame of the girl when he had taken her hand. He had seen the waifish silhouette as she attacked the glowing creature. No doubt a slightly-built sixteen-year-old girl  _could_  fit through the bars. But her observations had confirmed where they were. He sighed wearily.

"I know where we are now. You can fit through the bars, but I regret that I cannot."

"Oh," she said quietly. Her soft footsteps returned, and she took a seat near to him. "So we're stuck, then."

"Not for long," he said. "My sons will defeat these creatures, and they will come to find us. They are most resourceful."

"Yeah," she said. "I'm getting that." She drew her knees up to her chest and laid her head upon them.

Splinter blinked suddenly. He could see her. Barely, but her outline was there. Squinting, he peered at the far end of the tunnel. "What is that?"

Her head turned, and she drew a sharp breath. "Oh, no…" Surging to her feet, she raced to the bars, peering out through them. The light beyond was growing, a strange green glow filling the tunnels. He could clearly see her silhouetted against the bars now. "No, no, no…"

"The creatures?"

"They're coming this way," she confirmed, wrapping her arms around herself. "There's nowhere to go…"

Bracing himself, Splinter surged to his feet. His end of the tunnel was still deep in shadow, but he had lived underground long enough that what little light was available was enough to help him find his staff. He leaned upon it heavily, struggling to find his balance on his injured ankle. "Get behind me. I will defend us as long as I am able." How long that would be against the horde, he did not know, but he would not let the creatures take her without a fight.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He looked up sharply, just in time to see her slip through the bars. His eyes widened in horror. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," she said again, but the meekness was gone from her voice. Defiance rang in its place, along with an edge of something harsher, more desperate. Her bat was in her hand. "But I just lost my dad, and it was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I am  _not_  going to let my friends lose theirs!"

" _April!_ " Splinter lunged toward the bars.

It was too late. She was already gone, dropping down from the ledge outside of the tunnel opening to the level below. From beneath the entrance, he could hear her shouting.

"Come and get me, you ugly creeps! Yeah, you want a piece of this? Why don't you come this way and—gyaah, these things are fast!"

He heard the pounding of her footsteps, followed by a series of piercing shrieks and a great skittering as the creatures changed their course to follow the girl down the tunnel. The glow outside faded and disappeared, leaving him once again trapped in darkness, his prison now a sanctuary where he remained hidden from the horde.

Blinking, he tried to process what had just happened. "Oh, my sons," he whispered. "What have you brought into our lives?"

Distantly, from down the tunnel, words drifted back to him. "Chew on this, freakshow! O'Neil is up at bat!"

He closed his eyes, resting his head against the bars. Despite the gravity of the situation, he could not help but smile. "Good luck, April." He knelt on the floor of the tunnel and rested his staff across his knees, breathing deeply. "May the fates bring you quickly to my sons."

Sinking deep into meditation, he began his vigil, knowing that he would rest only when he knew that his children and their newfound friend were safe.

* * *

 

"Huh. This is a fun little development."

Leo looked over at Raph, who stared at the obstruction in the tunnel with his arms folded and an expression of utter disgust on his face. Raph also looked about as good as Leo felt. Covered in bites, gore, and scratches, they all looked like extras from the set of a bad zombie movie. Mikey was so exhausted he'd collapsed against a wall. Truth be told, Leo wished he could join him. Instead, he turned his attention to the wall of trash blocking the end of the tunnel, cutting them off from the abandoned City Hall station. The debris was glued together by what appeared to be some kind of hardened goo; several minutes of bashing at it without leaving a mark had demonstrated that the stuff was tougher than cement.

"Donnie, please tell me there's something in your bag of tricks to deal with this."

Donnie smirked. "Oh, ye of little faith." He reached into his seemingly bottomless bag and pulled out two plastic soda bottles filled with something that was definitely not soda, connected together with a bewildering array of wires, parts from an old TV, and what looked like a water balloon. "I brought a couple of spares. So when the reaction agent is catalyzed by—"

"Can we skip the science lesson,  _please_?" Mikey whined plaintively, sliding down the wall. "I'm  _tired_."

Glaring, Donnie gestured at the contraption. "Liquid A mixes with Liquid B, and Liquid C makes them go boom real big."

Mikey pointed at him. "See? Why can't you talk normal  _all_  the time?"

"Because I don't wanna get stupider!"

Leo rolled his eyes. They so did not have time for a fight now. "The wall, Donnie."

"Huh? Oh, right." He used a wad of chewing gum to stick the makeshift explosive to the barrier. Pressing some buttons on what appeared to be the face of a digital watch, Donnie spun around. "Um, you may want to run."

The other three glanced at each other in alarm, and followed Donnie's lead. Seconds later, a massive boom sounded behind them, and the concussion wave blasted them from their feet. As they rolled to a stop along the tracks, Mikey giggled.

"Dude, that was  _awesome_! Why don't we do that for the Fourth of July?"

Raph struggled to his feet. "Yeah, I'm sure Splinter would be totally down with that."

Any reply that the others might have made was drowned out by a roar so loud and deep that it shook the tracks beneath them, knocking them off their feet again. Moments later, an answering chorus of shrieks resonated from the opposite end of the tunnel.

"Well," said Raph, "we did hope that Mama would call her babies home."

"But do they have to come all at once?" said Mikey.

Leo drew his katana, bracing himself. "Get ready." And as the first hint of glow showed itself at the end of the tunnel, he let his training take over and launched himself alongside his brothers into the fray.

* * *

April squeezed her eyes closed tightly, clutching the pipes beneath her as the screaming horde of ratroaches streamed down the tunnel below. Whatever that explosion was, she was pretty sure the guys were involved, and while she was glad of that sign that they were ahead and close, she really wished they hadn't made the ratroaches angry.

Easing herself up, she readjusted the rags around her arms. After she'd managed to pull ahead of the ratroaches that she was leading away from Splinter and found herself back in the subway system, she'd taken refuge in the crawlspace between a network of pipes and the roof of the tunnel and realized that if she stood any chance of getting past these things without taking any more burns, she'd need more protection. Now the scraps of the hoodie she'd stuffed into her backpack at the beginning of the night and the remains of the fabric of her umbrella wrapped every inch of exposed skin she could tie them on to. She still needed to see, so she'd ripped the hood off the hoodie and tied it around her face.

When the shaking in the tunnel subsided, she resumed her precarious crawl along the piping. The ratroaches had been reliable guides; all she'd needed to do was follow their course down the tunnel. They were still heading in the same direction, but now they were coming faster and angrier as the roaring of the queen summoned them home. "Oh, guys," she whispered. "Please be okay."

She followed the ratroach stream to a junction and then cursed under her breath. The tunnels on either side opened up into maintenance alcoves, and the handy pipe road on the ceiling ended abruptly. She'd have to come down if she was going to go any further.

Lying down on the pipes, she watched the horde pass by, using the moment to carefully draw her bat from its pocket on her backpack. After a seeming eternity passed, the glowing flood of ratroaches slowed to a trickle, and the tunnels grew dark again. April bit her lip, trying to stop the racing of her heart.  _No problem, April. It's just a completely blind run, in the dark, through strange rat-infested tunnels. Piece of cake._

April clenched her free hand, and then grabbed the outermost pipe, swinging herself down before she could pep talk herself into catatonic fear. She let her feet dangle for a moment, and then let go.

_Fallingfallingfalling…_

She landed hard, crying out involuntarily as her ankle twisted beneath her. She stumbled, but though it hurt like crazy, she could still walk on it. Catching her breath, she groped her way forward, swinging her bat in front of her like a cane, hoping that if there was something in front of her, the bat would hit it before her face did.

_Okay, this isn't so bad. We're doing fine. We ache like crazy and we have no idea where we're going, but at least we don't have raw sewage falling on us. Anymore._

April frowned and resolved to stop giving herself pep talks. She was really bad at them.

Squinting into the darkness, she breathed a small sigh of relief. The end of the junction was just up ahead, and then she could get back into the piping—  _Wait. Why can I see that?_

Eyes wide, April spun in place just in time to see the glowing ratroach at the head of the newly-arriving pack leap for her. Screaming, she swung wildly, striking it off its trajectory. As its siblings swarmed toward her, she turned on her heel and fled.

The tunnel curved ahead, opening up into a wider section of track. Gasping, April was just barely able to notice a brightening on the walls around her in time to smack the approaching ratroach away. But the swing slowed her down again, and a moment later she staggered, crying out as a crushing weight settled on her pack and dragged her down.

_It's on my pack, it's on my pack!_

She managed to slip one arm free, and the remaining strap slipped instantly down her arm, pulled by the weight of the ratroach. She grabbed her bat from the trapped hand and hit the thing's head as hard as she could while freeing her other arm from the strap. She darted forward again, but another one caught her arm, teeth sinking into the extra padding of her hoodie fabric, slime pouring down her sleeve. She cried out again as another jumped on her from behind, tearing her hood from her head. That one fell away, unprepared for the loosening of the fabric, and she jerked her arm free of the other, whacking at it until it let go.

April turned to run again and her foot caught on the track. Unable to stop her momentum, she tumbled to the ground. Rolling over as soon as she was able, all she could see was the blinding glow of the creatures surrounding her.

_This is it. I'm going to—_

Shadows fell over her, and the lead ratroach was sent flying by a powerful blow from a wooden staff. April's breath caught in her throat. The turtles reaped their way through the pack of creatures in absolute silence, every movement precise, not a single one wasted or out of place. They fought almost as one, each one aware of the other's actions, even when they were facing the other way. The tunnel became a wall of light as the dying creatures exploded one by one, until none of them remained. It was over unbelievably fast, and as the glow from the creatures faded, the turtles turned to face her.

April froze. For the first time since she had met them, she found herself the focus of the blank, distant stare of the ninjas. And as darkness swallowed them, for the first time since meeting them, she found herself afraid…

An instant later, light blinded her. As she blinked tears from her eyes, the glowing blur resolved itself into some kind of road flare, and above it a pair of brown eyes, wide, familiar, and filled with concern.

And just like that, the fear was gone.

"April," Donnie breathed, and he was on his knees in front of her, setting the flare beside him, his rough hands gentle as they caught her face. "You're hurt!"

"Huh?" She brought her hand to her face, and her fingers came away flaked with dried blood. "Oh, that. No, I'm fine, I just got cut when a piece of the ceiling fell on me."

" _What_?"

"April, what are you doing here?" Leo did not look happy to see her. "You were supposed to wait where it was safe."

"Well I would have if  _someone_  hadn't left me alone in the tunnel with a dying flashlight," she snapped back.

Mikey cringed. "Sorry."

"It's okay though." She caught Donnie's hands, pulling them away from his insistent exploration of the cut on her scalp. "I found Splinter!"

A delighted grin spread across Mikey's face. "He's okay?"

"Where is he?" Raph demanded, dropping to one knee next to her and grabbing her shoulder.

"Well, that's the thing," she said. "There was a flood, and then the ceiling fell on us, and then we were okay, but there were bars on the other end of the tunnel and he couldn't fit, and so I led the ratroaches away, and now I'm here." She finished, breathless.

Mikey glanced at his brothers. "Did anybody follow that?"

A screech forestalled any response from the others, and a green glow began to build in the tunnel from the direction of City Hall.

"No time," said Leo. "The rest of you go, hold them off. I'll be there in a minute."

Donnie hesitated, his hands catching April's, but a look at Leo's face stopped any protest he might have made. With one last concerned glance at April, he rose to his feet and took off after Raph and Mikey.

Leo turned to her, his serious leader face firmly in place, and April knew what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth.

"Leo," she begged, "please don't send me back again."

"April, this is no place for you."

"And sending me back worked  _so well_  the first time." She struggled to her feet, using the bat to push herself up. "We don't know how many more of those things are out there, and I don't know the way, and you can't spare anyone to take me, and—"

"You can't fight!" Leo gestured at her. "Look at you! You can barely even stand!"

April clenched her jaw, wanting to cry from frustration, but refusing to give him the satisfaction. "Remember in  _Space Heroes_  how they  _always_  left Lieutenant Virtue on the stupid ship because she didn't know how to fight?" She planted her hands on her hips, pressing her advantage as discomfort crept across Leo's face. "When Captain Ryan was sentenced to death after blowing up the weasel beast arena, who was it who rescued Crankshaw from the paralysis chamber  _and then_  found the loophole in Nebuzarian law that made them release the Captain?"

"Nnnnngh." Leo looked away, his fists clenched. "Lieutenant Virtue," he admitted at last.

She smiled sadly, shrugging a little. "There's a reason why it's the best episode ever," she said quietly.

He looked back at her, his expression a study in conflict. At the other end of the tunnel, the sounds of battle grew quieter as the others drove the ratroaches back, the glow fading with it. At April's feet, the flare was beginning to sputter. Shadows closed in around them, until she couldn't even see Leo anymore. As the flare gave one last flicker and died completely, April whispered into the darkness.

"Please don't leave me behind."

She held her breath as she waited for an answer. She couldn't hear the others anymore, and the silence was deafening. The moment stretched on, and still there was no sound from Leo. Her chest grew tight as her stinging eyes threatened to betray her.

Then, finally, she received her answer as a callused palm brushed over her fingers and Leo took her hand. With a gentle tug, he led her out of the dark.

* * *

Leo's arm pushed her back against the damp wall of the tunnel. April caught her breath, all too conscious of the glow radiating from just around the corner. Frowning, Leo turned back to her and cast a pointed glance upward. She followed his gaze to the pipes on the ceiling and nodded.

Retreating to a safe distance, he went down to one knee and laced his hands together. April put her hands on his shoulders, bracing herself, and placed the foot that wasn't still aching into the cradle of his hands. He gave her an inquiring glance, and at her nod, he launched her upward.

It was definitely a new experience. Her stomach dropped out beneath her as she sped toward the ceiling, and she barely had time to get her hands up. She reached, straining for the pipes, but as her fingers wrapped around the metal, damp with the spillover from the excess rain, she wasn't prepared for the force of her own weight as gravity reasserted herself, and her fingers slipped from the pipe. She tumbled uncontrollably, unable to tell which way was up, and instead of the roof of the subway tunnel, all she could see were the spinning blades of a helicopter...

Then, abruptly, she was no longer falling. As her lungs started to work again, she became aware of the hands supporting her around her shoulders and beneath her knees, and she glanced up into Leo's amused face. He raised a brow at her, and she felt her face heating with embarrassment.

"Shut up," she mouthed at him.

His mouth quirked, and April's breath hitched as the ridiculousness of it hit her. It wasn't funny. It really wasn't. But she was so tired, and terrified, and suddenly it was hilarious. She bit her lip and pressed her face against his chest as she shook with unvoiced laughter. From the tension in his arms, he was having the same problem.

Eventually, the moment passed, and she was able to draw a breath, raising her head again. He set her on her feet and looked at her, his meaning perfectly clear.  _Ready to try again?_

She nodded, and once more he offered her his hands. This time, she caught the stupid pipe. Once that was accomplished, however, she found herself facing another problem. As she dangled into empty space, she discovered that pulling her entire weight up to the pipes was actually ridiculously hard. She couldn't do it. Before panic had a chance to set in, she felt a reverberation course through the metal beneath her hands, and three incredibly strong fingers wrapped around each of her wrists. She breathed a sigh of relief as Leo hauled her up in front of him and handed her the bat.  _That's it. If I survive this thing, I am totally joining a gym._

They started moving in the direction of the station, but they hadn't gone more than a few feet before Leo's hand on her ankle stopped her. She craned her head around, and he pointed up. Over her head was a shadow, just barely discernible in the glow from the creatures that lurked just around the bend in the tunnel. When she squinted, she could just make out, through layers of dirt, a yellow sign bearing the words "EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE."

April scooted forward to give Leo room, and he pushed open the panel and disappeared through the hatch. She followed, and found herself in a shallow crawlspace above the ceiling. Leo was already moving off, and she grabbed at his foot to avoid losing him in the dark. He led her to the side of the crawlspace, and in very little time, he'd located a ladder and led her down it. At the bottom, the crawlspace opened up into a narrow corridor, dotted periodically by high ventilation grates through which green light streamed in narrow bars.

"There's a maintenance tunnel?" April whispered. "Man, this would have made things  _so_  much easier!"

"Shhh," Leo cautioned, squeezing past her. He took her hand and led her down the tunnel, and the glow through the grating brightened as they approached the station. After a little while, April was able to make out three shadows in the dim light ahead of them.

"Oh, jeez," she heard Mikey whispering. "We are in so much trouble."

It was then that Donnie caught sight of them. He took two steps toward them, and even in the dim lighting, April could see that he wasn't happy. "Leo!" Even hushed, he was able to convey a massive amount of displeasure in that one word.

Raph followed Donnie's gaze and clapped a hand to his head. "Are you  _crazy?"_

Leo leaned against the wall of the tunnel, giving April space, and folded his arms. "Do  _you_  want to tell her she has to stay behind?"

"Yeah, go ahead," April said, planting her hands on her hips.

Donnie and Raph exchanged a glance. Donnie fidgeted with the bandages on hin hands. "Ummm..."

"That's what I thought," said Leo.

April put her free hand over her heart. "I solemnly swear that I will stay out of the fighting and stay where you tell me to." She dropped the hand. "Happy?"

"Works for me," whispered Raph, and gestured at the grate around which they were clustered. The others moved aside a little to make room for April and Leo, and she peered cautiously through it as Leo looked over her shoulder.

April couldn't hold back a tiny gasp. She'd heard of the station before, of course – you didn't grow up in the city without being bombarded by ghost stories set in the abandoned stations – but she'd never seen it. Brass chandeliers, now dark, would have cast their light on the most beautiful station she had ever seen. Coloured glass tiles arched between interlocked bricks over the platform and the track below, supporting intricate amethyst glass skylights embellished with delicate patterns that evoked the ghosts of a time when the city took more pride in itself than it did today. A time when a station that even then saw little use had been turned into the crown jewel of the city's transit system.

Now the station sat in disarray, covered in grime, bricks crumbling even from below the sign that proudly proclaimed "CITY HALL" in large, blue letters on a white background. And the entire station was bathed in the sickly green light of the horrors that now called it home. The ratroaches swarmed around the station, piled one on top of another, so deep that they filled up the entire depression where the tracks ran and spilled over the platform.

"Oh, come on," she heard Leo breathe over her shoulder. "When did they get tentacles?"

"Unstable mutation," Donnie whispered back. "And technically, they're not tentacles; they're extra antennae that have developed the ability to move in a prehensile fashion, which, while uncommon in the arthropod phylum, is not entirely—"

Raphael smacked him on the back of the head. When Donnie turned to glare at him, he gestured sharply at the grate. "Science later. Squishing now."

Mikey placed his hands on April's shoulders, craning to see over her head. "I don't get it. Where's the—"

That deep, horrible roar filled the tunnels, so loud that it physically hurt April's ears. She would have covered them, but Mikey had let out a tiny squeak and grabbed at her, squeezing her like she was some kind of living teddy bear. Things got uncomfortably squished as the others crowded in, jostling to see through the grate. Then, as they watched, a giant mound of ratroaches in the corner of the tunnel heaved and slid to the platform below.

The queen was underneath.

She was absolutely enormous. The bulk of her body filled the tunnel, spreading almost from floor to ceiling. She was practically the size of a subway car. Beneath her lay a mass of glowing spheres, dozens of them. She roared again, and the waves of ratroaches in front of her parted. The spheres quivered for a moment, and about twenty of them on the edges of the pile split, each one disgorging a writhing baby ratroach.

"I will stand here and take it right now if someone will hit me hard enough to make me forget I ever saw that," Mikey breathed.

"Oooh, I'll do it," Raph offered.

"Tempting as it is," Leo said, "we can't afford to take Mikey out of commission right now."

Raph sighed. "I hate it when you're right." He frowned at Mikey. "All right, get off of her. She can't breathe." He pried April out of Mikey's grasp and passed her over to Donnie as she gasped for breath. Rolling his eyes, Donnie placed himself firmly between April and Mikey.

"So," Leo said. "All we need to do is get in there and take down the queen while not getting eaten by the hundreds of angry babies in our way."

"The quality and craftsmanship of your plans is truly astonishing, you know that?"

"Shut up, Raph. Donnie, what's the best way to get in?"

Donnie peered through the grate. "Well, since we blew the barrier on the other end of the tunnel, they all seem to be swarming up around the queen for protection. It looks like they're staying on the platform level, so if we take the maintenance shaft they built to do work on the skylight in the mezzanine—"

"How do you know there's a maintenance shaft?" Raph interrupted.

Donnie glared at him. "It's called a blueprint, meathead. I've read plans for all the stations in this city. Anyway, we should at least be able to get into the station without them noticing." He shuddered. "We're going to have to fight our way to the queen, though. It's the only way we can be sure the incendiary will be effective."

"And I'll stay here and guard April," Mikey said, attempting unsuccessfully to navigate around Donnie.

Leo grabbed him from his other side. "No, we're  _all_  going down there to give us a fighting chance of actually pulling this off." He fixed April with a stern glare. " _April_  is going to stay in the maintenance shaft away from the fighting." He raised a brow.

She held up two fingers. "Scout's honour."

Raph snorted. "Like you were a boy scout."

"Hey, we live in a free and equal society. Supposedly. Except when it's not." She frowned. "That was a bad example."

"Come on," said Leo. "At this rate, that thing will have enough babies to fill every tunnel in the city before we even make it down to the platform."

Donnie took the lead, drawing them deeper into the station. April had been getting used to the whispered conversation; the silence with which they moved now was unsettling. Worse, compared to the guys, she sounded like an elephant. In tap shoes. She was getting the feeling that hanging out with a group of ninjas was going to provide ample opportunities to expand on her definition of the word "humbling." Not to mention "embarrassing" and "humiliating."

They turned a corner, away from the platform, and Donnie paused at a series of rungs set into the wall. The ladder disappeared into a dark hole that yawned above their heads. "It's probably going to get tight," he whispered. "You'd better follow us up, April."

She nodded and let the others pass her by, watching as they swarmed up the wall. Leo was the last up. "If it gets too dark, or you need to stop, grab my foot," he said. She nodded again, and followed him up the ladder.

Climbing a ladder while holding a bat in one hand was not easy, but somehow, she managed. Once they were through the hole, she found herself in an inclined shaft. Trying to reconcile what she was feeling with her mental images of other stations, she eventually figured out where they must be. Donnie had said that the shaft was used to service the skylight; they were crawling across the domed ceiling of the mezzanine.

Gradually, April became aware of a faint glow ahead, illuminating the four bulky figures in front of her. They stopped suddenly, April barely catching herself before she crashed into Leo. She heard the faintest of sounds, the glow brightening just a little, before the turtles began to vanish through the maintenance hatch in the floor.

Leo paused as he reached the opening and looked back at her. "Close it as soon as I'm through," he whispered. He paused a moment and added, "and  _please_  stay put."

"No argument here," she whispered back.

He nodded once, and dropped through the opening after his brothers.

April scooted herself forward. The hatch, a grate that opened outward, dangled from the side of the opening closest to her. She reached down and hauled it upward, hearing a faint click as it locked into place. With a sigh of relief, she peered through the bars into the room below.

It was dim, but the light from the ratroaches streamed up the stairs leading down to the platform just enough to illuminate the guys as they vanished into the shadows of the doorways around the mezzanine. They were in full-on ninja mode again. Leo reached the doorway first, peering down the stairs. He gestured sharply, and flung himself down the steps, using the wall to kick off and launch himself into the horde. The others rematerialized from their hiding places and were right on his heels.

There was a moment of silence. Then the ratroaches started screaming.

April flinched as the sound cut through her. She couldn't see the guys from her vantage point. The only thing that made it bearable was the sound of them trading quips as they laid into the horde.

"Ugly little things, aren't they?" Raph called.

"Faces only a mother could love-" Leo began.

Mikey shrieked. "Dude, I think she just  _ate_  one of them!"

"—or not."

"Coming at you, Raph!" Donnie's voice rose above the fray.

"Gee, thanks Donnie—" A pained grunt, followed by an explosion. "Remind me to return the favour."

Their voices faded as they moved away from the staircase to the mezzanine, and April laced her fingers through the bars of the grate, desperately straining to hear what was going on. She hated this helpless feeling, and it made her half-sick to be stuck here, not knowing what was happening below. But she'd promised Leo, and she knew that going down there would be completely stupid, and likely to accomplish nothing but getting her killed.

That didn't make it suck any less, though.

She sighed, resting her chin on her elbow. She looked at her hand, and frowned. The raw patch from the ratroach's caustic slime was starting to blister a little, and it glistened faintly in the light…

Light.

_Oh, crap._

She threw herself backward, bringing her bat up just in time to deflect the leap of the ratroach behind her in the maintenance shaft. It knocked her back, and she landed hard on the grate. The catch gave beneath her weight, and before she knew what was happening, the grate dropped away beneath her. She scrabbled at the edge of the hatch, just able to catch herself with her free hand as she fell, the other hand still clutching her bat. The ratroach wasn't so lucky, and it tumbled, shrieking, to the tiles below her. It hit hard, head-first, and she watched it stagger for a moment before it fell to its side and exploded a moment later.

April breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, only to find herself staring at the gleaming teeth and dripping mandibles of a second ratroach. She screamed, and let go of the edge. The drop wasn't that far, but it was enough to send her sprawling when she hit, scrambling desperately to avoid the ratroach's puddle of goo. A heartbeat later, the second ratroach was on top of her, pinning her to the tiles. She had just managed to get her bat up in time to wedge it into the thing's mouth, bracing it with both hands and pushing for all she was worth to keep those teeth away from her. Her eyes widened as the slime from its coat began to slowly drip toward her unprotected face.

Suddenly, the ratroach jerked. April was able to catch a glimpse of a cable wrapped around its throat before its weight lifted from her and it went hurtling toward the wall, where it exploded in a shower of fluorescent goo. Gasping, April pushed herself to her knees as a green form planted itself in front of her, quickly finishing off the third ratroach that dropped from the hatch above them.

As she managed to calm her heart down, Mikey glanced over his shoulder at her, his expression oddly defiant. "I got your back," he stated, as though daring her to disagree.

April nodded. "I know." She took the hand he offered her, and let him help her to her feet. Then she swung her bat around and whacked him across the shell.

"Ow!" he yelped.

" _That's_  for abandoning me in the tunnel," she said.

He stared at her for a moment in disbelief before understanding crept across his features. "So we're good now?"

"We're golden." She smiled at him.

Slowly, a manic grin spread across his face. "Then let's rock this party!" He seized her hand and dragged her down the stairs toward the platform as a fresh wave of ratroaches tumbled from the ceiling.

Mikey landed hard on a group of the creatures, clearing the way with both feet and weapons before shoving her up against the wall. Raph, who was fighting nearby, gaped at him. "What do you think you're—" The flood of ratroaches that pursued them cut him off. "Oh. Okay then." He laid into them with his stick-weapons –  _Time for Ninja Weapons 102, April -_ as Mikey pressed April farther back.

The noise was unbearable. Between the bellowing of the queen and the shrieking of the ratroaches, she could barely hear herself think. Both the creatures and their mother seemed to be operating on the same frequency that fingernails on a blackboard employed. Ratroaches continued to dive at her from either side, but Mikey fought like a maniac. None of them even came close to reaching her.

" _Mikey!_ "

The bellow carried over the noise, and April winced. Apparently Donnie had noticed that she wasn't in the maintenance shaft anymore.

"Hey," Mikey called back, whirling to dispatch another two with the blurring wooden nunchucks in his hands _._ "You'd rather I left her in the other room to get eaten?"

"If we can focus please?" Leo cut in. "Donnie, I would really like to kill that thing now." He gestured sharply at the queen with one of his wooden swords, turning the movement into an arc that snapped the neck of another one of the creatures.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Do I have to do everything?" Without waiting for an answer, he shoved his bō into the sheath at his back and leaped, catching hold of one of the chandeliers overhead. With an expert kick, he swung himself forward, letting go at the apex of his swing and catching hold of the next chandelier down the line. He continued to launch himself over the heads of the screaming ratroaches until he was fairly close to the queen. Then, he reached into the duffel at his side and withdrew a couple of liquid-filled bottles. Winding up, he flung them at the queen for all he was worth and then heaved himself onto the platform, carving a path in front of him with his bō as he fled. "Hit the deck!" he called.

April gasped, pressing herself back against the wall. Mikey backed toward her, the hard surface of his shell pressing against her, as a flash of light burst from Donnie's contraption.

With a small  _poot_ , a thin cloud of smoke rose from the spot where the bottles had been. The queen opened her mouth and screamed hard enough to drive all of them to their knees.

"That was  _it?_ " Raph shouted. "Donnie, that was pathetic!"

Donnie was halfway across the platform, and even from where she stood, April could see his horrified expression as he slapped his hand to his head. "It's the slime coat! She's covered in it!" He paused to take out another four ratroaches. "It's so caustic, it's cancelling out the catalyzation reaction!"

Leo ran up the wall and flipped over to put himself behind a writhing mass of very confused ratroaches, which he took out with some small amount of effort. "What does that  _mean?_ "

Donnie yelped as one of the ratroaches' prehensile antennae wrapped around his feet and yanked them out from under him. "It means," he said angrily, swatting it with his bō and launching himself back onto his feet, "that unless I can find a corrosive in quantities large enough to neutralize the stupidly big amount of alkali slime covering that thing, we can all kiss our shells goodbye!"

"Aaaugh!" Mikey hollered, punting a ratroach onto the tracks. " _Why don't you ever speak English?_ "

"He did," April whispered. She cast her eyes frantically around the tracks. There had to be… they were in every station…  _There!_  At the opposite end of the platform from the queen, in the direction from which she and the guys had come. There, set in the wall, was an old-fashioned case with a glass front. The glass was now thick with grime, but she was almost certain she knew what was in it. With a glance at Mikey, whose back was to her as he tried to fight off the ratroach that had an antennae wrapped around his wrist, she turned and fled toward the case.

" _April!"_  She heard Donnie scream her name, followed by a series of shouts from the others, but she couldn't afford to stop. The queen's cry had changed, and the ratroaches were starting to boil up from the level of the tracks. They'd all be lost in a minute. She swung her bat wildly, driving the ratroaches in her path away, breathing a fervent prayer of thanks that they were mainly clustered around their mother, and comparatively thinner at this end of the platform.

One of the ratroaches, quicker than its siblings, sank its teeth into the bat as she swung and jerked it from her hands. Gasping, she ran harder, her last line of defense gone. Another jumped at her, its teeth catching in the fabric wrapping her arm. She shook it free, leaving the fabric behind, her left arm now dangerously exposed.

 _Almost there_.

This close, she could read the words on the frame.  _In case of fire, break glass._  It was old, probably dating back to when the station had been built, long before the days of safety glass and plexi. It was one of the old style cases that had once had a little hammer hanging next to it to use on the glass. The hammer was long gone, lost to the taggers and urban explorers who had painted the alcoves just off the main station. But through the grime, she could see a glint of red. The station was old, unused, but workers still manned the tunnels. They would have kept their nearby safety gear up to date.

_…I hope._

She didn't have time to slow down; the ratroaches were on her heels. Tearing the fabric from her other arm, she wrapped her left hand in it and drove it through the glass.

Pain, white hot, sliced through her hand, blurring her vision for a moment. When it cleared, all she could see was the vivid red of an industrial-strength tri-class fire extinguisher. "Thank you, Firefighters' Local 94," she breathed, and grabbed the extinguisher out of the case, barely noticing the blood streaming from the cuts in her hand.

She turned just in time to see Mikey yank away the ratroach bearing down on her, swinging it into a wall by its tail. "Donnie!" she yelled, and ran as hard as she could, trusting Mikey to keep her path clear. She passed him, and then it was Raph keeping the creatures off her tail. She was halfway to Leo before she felt something wrap her ankle, tripping her up hard. She went down to her knees, and threw the extinguisher as hard as she could. Leo caught it, and didn't hesitate before throwing it over to Donnie. Their resident genius stared at it, bewilderment plain in his expression.

She yanked her foot free of the ratroach antennae holding it and kicked the ratroach back onto the track, hoping that her boot was thick enough to protect her foot from the slime. "Monoammonium phosphate!" she shouted.

He stared at her, and a gap-toothed grin blossomed across his face. "You are  _so_ cool!" he crowed. Hauling his arm back, he looked over his shoulder. "Leo!  _Pull!_ "

Donnie launched the fire extinguisher toward the end of the tunnel. Leo reached into his belt, and just before the fire extinguisher reached the queen, three shuriken thudded into it with deadly accuracy. The fire extinguisher exploded, drenching the queen in white foam, which began to bubble and froth as soon as it contacted the slime covering the creature and her offspring.

If April had thought the queen's screams were bad before, they were nothing compared to now. April covered her head as bricks began to fall from the ceiling, sure that if the sound were to continue any longer, her brain was going to liquefy and come out her ears.

Abruptly, the ratroaches stopped their attack and swarmed toward their mother. Donnie was in the midst of them, drawing another one of the bottle devices out of his bag as he did so. As he neared the queen, a massive antennae whipped out from her side, seizing him around the waist and lifting him from his feet. He cried out as the queen flung him back down the platform toward the others, but the incendiary was no longer in his hand. Donnie collided with Leo and raised his head, his frantic eyes locking with April's.

" _Run!"_

The ratroaches reached the queen, swarming over her until she was a writhing, glowing mass of bodies. Which suddenly began to swell.

April whirled, pelting back down the platform, not sure where she was headed, so long as it was  _away_. A distant part of her mind boggled at the absurdity of trying to outrun an explosion, but she couldn't just stand there and let it take her. Maybe if she could reach the tunnel—

Something hard seized her ankle and yanked her off her feet. She plunged off the platform toward the tracks, striking out with her fists, determined not to let some stupid errant ratroach take her down now.

An arm like steel wrapped around her, locking her arms to her sides, and dragged her into an alcove underneath the platform so fast it left her breathless. Dazed, April found herself on her knees, pinned against Raph's chest with her face pressed against the hard surface of his plastron. His other hand came up to cradle the back of her head as he curled himself around her, covering her with as much of his body as he could as he knelt between her and the explosion. A second later, her breath was driven from her as Mikey slammed into her other side, wrapping his arms around both April and Raph, wedging her in between them.

And then April was aware of nothing at all as the conflagration reached them and the world dissolved into a wall of fire and light.

* * *

Leo groaned into the darkness. Everything hurt. Even his  _shell_  hurt. He shifted, reassured by the weight in his arms that he'd succeeded in dragging Donnie into the mezzanine, out of the direct path of the blast. It had still been enough to throw them into the wall. Working by feel, he managed to find Donnie's bag and dig out one of the few remaining flares. At least, he hoped it was a flare. Praying that he wasn't about to blow them both up, he lit it and examined the still form of his brother.

He looked okay. He was in one piece, at least. Leo grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "Donnie. Donnie, wake up."

Donnie moaned and blinked up at Leo. "Are we dead?"

"I don't think dead would feel this terrible," Leo said, half smiling.

Leo froze suddenly, looking around the room. "Raph?" He was on his feet then, Donnie a step behind them as they pounded down the stairs toward the platform. "Mikey?" Ankle-deep goo covered the floor, hindering them as they struggled toward the last place they had seen the others.

" _April!_ " Donnie's voice contained an edge of hysteria. The platform was empty.

Then, an aggravated voice came from the darkness below. "Jeez, you two, stop screaming. You're worse than that queen thing."

Leo let out a breath as Raph vaulted over the side of the platform, Mikey following close behind. Both of their shells were plastered with ratroach goo, though their fronts were still clean. Donnie pushed past Leo. "Is April—"

"I'm fine!" Raph and Mikey leaned down, catching April's hands and pulling her up to the platform. She looked down at her feet and grimaced as she sank into the goo. "These boots are ruined, but I'm okay." As Leo and Donnie reached them, she grinned at Donnie. "Mendeleev," she said, and held up her uninjured fist.

Beaming, Donnie bumped it, and both of them made an explosion with their fingers. Without warning, Donnie seized her, pinning her arms to her sides as he lifted her off her feet and hugged her for all he was worth. "I'm so glad you're okay," he breathed, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. Then, realizing that the others were staring at him, he set her down quickly and coughed, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head. "I mean,  _we're_  glad."

Leo hooked a hand into his belt. "I've gotta admit it, April, that wasn't bad."

"But this is!" Mikey was looking over his shoulder at the goo dripping from his shell. "This is disgusting! Eww, I need a shower!" He ran over to a stream of droplets coming from a crack that the exploding queen had left in the ceiling, letting it wash over him with a blissful expression on his face.

"Uh, Mikey?" Donnie said. "That's not water."

Mikey's eyes snapped open, and he threw himself out of the stream, tripping and falling into another pile of goo. " _Gross!"_

Leo shook his head, and placed a hand on April's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go get Splinter."

* * *

Leo shielded his eyes as Donnie worked on the bars covering the mouth of the tunnel. Donnie was trying very hard to ignore Raph's ribbing about the fact that he'd had a blowtorch and a mask in his bag. To Donnie's dismay, April had dubbed it his "magical nanny" bag due to its seemingly bottomless capacity, which had delighted Raph and Mikey to no end.

April stood in front of Leo on the ledge, watching the interchange with some amusement. She was swaying a little on her feet, though. She held her laptop under one arm – it had been the only thing they'd managed to salvage from her ratroach-ravaged backpack when they came across its shredded remains in the tunnel. Her other hand sported a quick pressure bandage drawn from the magical nanny bag, though Donnie had insisted that he was going to have a closer look at her injured hand when they were in a sterile environment.

"You okay?" Leo asked quietly.

She started a little, and nodded. "Yeah. I can't wait to have a shower, though. I don't even want to think about what's in my hair."

"April," Leo began, awkwardly. She turned to face him, her expression concerned. Leo spread his hands. "I'm not sure how to thank you…" He looked at the mouth of the tunnel behind which Splinter was trapped. "For saving his life."

April smiled, just a little sadly, and patted his arm. "Hey, you tried to do the same for my dad. It was the least I could do."

Donnie finished what he was doing and lifted the mask from his face. "Okay, that ought to do it," he said. On either side of the grate, Mikey and Raph lifted the pipes they'd appropriated, wedged them into the bars, and strained against them.

April turned back to watch. "I just can't wait to actually meet him."

Leo's brow furrowed. "But you—"

"It was dark," she said. "You can't meet somebody properly when you can't even see their face."

Leo's eyes widened. "Uh, April? Did any of us actually tell you about Master Splinter?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "Tell me what?"

Leo's answer was drowned out by a crash as the grate came free. Dancing from foot to foot, Mikey leaned into the opening. " _Sensei_? Are you okay?"

"I am fine, Michelangelo." The darkness at the mouth of the tunnel shifted, and Splinter, leaning heavily on his staff, emerged into the newly-restored light.

April let out a gasp, colliding with Leo's chest as she jerked back. Leo's hands came up to her shoulders, steadying her, and he looked around at his family in dismay. The looks he got back were equally alarmed. He had no idea what to do if April started screaming.

Then, she took a breath. "Sorry," she said. "I thought you'd be…taller."

Splinter blinked, his ears twitching once in surprise, and a smile spread across his face. On the other side of the tunnel, Raph let out a strangled sound that might have been a smothered laugh. Judging by Donnie's expression, he was also having as much trouble smothering his laughter as Leo was.

To be fair, they were all exhausted. A little hysteria was only to be expected.

Shaking his head, Splinter approached April and held out his hand. "It is good to see you at last, April."

Leo let his hands fall away from her shoulders as April took Splinter's hand and shook it. "You too."

"You're okay!" Unable to contain himself any longer, Mikey threw himself at Splinter, wrapping his arms tightly around their  _sensei_  and pressing his face against Splinter's chest.

"Yes, Michelangelo." Splinter tugged ineffectually against his son's hold. "I am happy to see you, too."

Finally, Mikey released him, beaming for all he was worth. Splinter smiled fondly at his smallest son and patted him on the head. Then, in a move too fast to follow, he whacked Mikey on the arm with his staff.

"Ow!" Mikey rubbed at his arm.

" _That_  was for leaving a young woman unaccompanied in strange sewer tunnels in the dark," Splinter said sternly.

" _Hai_ ,  _sensei,_ " Mikey said, but he was still unable to suppress a grin.

April was grinning too, until the staff whipped out again. "Ow!" she cried.

"And  _that,_ " Splinter continued, "was for breaking your promise." He straightened and regarded them all. "Now, boys, if your friend is staying for dinner, I would suggest that we send out for pizza."

"Sweet!" Mikey crowed.

"Oh, my gosh," April gasped. "Guys, I have to get home. My aunt will be frantic!" She scrabbled in her pocket for her phone, hindered by the bulky bandage. "It's—" she looked at the display, and frowned. "Wow. Huh. Not nearly as late as I thought."

"Yeah, time goes funny when you're doing ninja stuff," Raph said.

"Then I guess I can stay." She glanced shyly at Splinter. "If you'll have me."

"This is awesome!" Mikey swept a bemused April off down the tunnel. "We need to have April over for dinner  _every_  night!"

Donnie and Raph took off after Mikey, but Leo lingered, keeping himself to Splinter's slower pace. And so it was that he heard his  _sensei_  murmur under his breath, "why do I get the feeling that is a distinct probability?"

As they headed after the others, Leo couldn't help smiling. They had just met the girl. They barely knew her. But for all that this was only the second night they had spent together, he found it hard to imagine life without her anymore. Having April around just felt... _right._

Although one thing did worry him.

Now that she'd seen what she could do planetside, Lieutenant Virtue was never going to stay behind on the ship again.

* * *

"[If you will permit me](http://silveraspenriver.tumblr.com/post/79563214226/if-you-will-permit-me-i-believe-it-will-be)" by silveraspenriver

"[Explosion](http://brushbell.tumblr.com/post/52192097978/mikey-and-raph-saving-april-from-fantasia)" by brushbell

"[Blank Stares](http://stormynight108.deviantart.com/art/Blank-Stares-352984600)" by stormynight108

"[Glad you're okay](http://lateforerebor.tumblr.com/post/36910072548/a-scene-from-the-most-amazing-tmnt-fanfic)" by lateforerebor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, gang! A couple thoughts on things you guys have said in reviews and PMs:
> 
> The algae &worms thing never really bothered me. One, because I'm a biologist and many turtles (including box turtles) do have a herbivorous diet supplemented by available invertebrates (including worms). I just figured Yoshi read a book before he bought the turtles, 'cause he would have been conscientious like that, and decided that was the best diet for his boys even post-mutation. Two, because my granny was a Scottish war bride trying to raise a family of seven in a strange country on a single teacher's salary, and my family has many, many stories of her attempts to make do with what they had, which were not limited to catching and skinning rabbits that were eating the vegetable garden and serving them for dinner (while lying to Grandpa about what they were, because he frowned on such things). When times are tough, you make do with what's there to feed your family. I also figured any money they did scrounge was probably going to ninja weapons, 'cause they've got some pretty nice stuff there. The turtles, not my granny. Although that would have made growing up in my family SO MUCH COOLER.
> 
> My take on the Nick-version Mikey (which is not necessarily that of the creators, but it's what I'm getting out of it): I don't think he's stupid, per se. I think that Mikey's customary naiveté has been coupled with raging ADHD, so he just doesn't know about anything that wasn't interesting enough to hold his attention (like spelling lessons and Leo's plans), but hyper-focuses on things that do interest him, like ninjutsu, which explains why he can be scary-good at it when he bothers to focus for two minutes. :o)
> 
> Disclaimer: I tried to work off photos and blueprints as much as possible, but I'm still taking a lot of liberties with the layout of City Hall station and the MTA tunnels. Mea culpa. Holy crap, staging this part and blocking out the fight was hard.
> 
> And thus ends my longest note ever. On with the show!


	7. From the Sewer (Epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which wounds are tended, and lives are changed forever

**From the Sewer: Epilogue**

* * *

Splinter knelt beneath the spreading branches of the tree in the dojo, relieving his bandaged ankle of his weight. Breathing deeply, he wrapped his hands around his steaming mug of tea, its warmth welcome after so long spent trapped in the dark. The night had been nothing if not eventful. Leonardo had filled him in during the trek back to the lair, and Splinter had needed some time to meditate in order to process everything that his son had told him.

Upon returning to the lair after Donatello restored power to their home, April had promptly claimed the shower for her own. Michelangelo had protested, but the combination of Donatello insisting that April's wounds needed to be cleaned, and Raphael forcibly reminding his smaller brother that it was partly his fault that April was such a mess in the first place, won him over. Splinter could not say that he blamed April in the least; he knew what she had been exposed to over the course of the night, and despite everything else, she was still a sixteen-year-old human girl with a perfectly functional sense of hygiene. She had remained in the shower long enough for Donatello and Michelangelo to wash and dry her clothes for her, forever putting an end to Raphael's argument that they had no use for the washer/dryer that Donatello had forced him to drag home from the dump some weeks earlier. Donatello had also taken the time to examine Splinter's ankle and deliver the necessary treatment, with an admonishment to stay off it as much as he could.

Finishing the tea, Splinter took up his staff and used its strength to help him return to the heart of their home. Even though he had had the utmost confidence in his sons during his long wait in the dark, he still needed to reassure himself that they were indeed home and safe.

He was not surprised to find that Donatello was still seated next to April on the bench in the pit. After ensuring that he, too, was suitably clean, Donatello had taken it upon himself to treat the injuries April's hand had sustained. She sat across from him in her newly-cleaned clothes, her damp hair curling loose around her shoulders, watching as Donatello carefully checked the butterfly bandages he had applied to her lacerations and began to wrap her hand in sterile gauze. Of course, it was taking him considerably longer to perform these ministrations on April than it took him to similarly treat his siblings, but Splinter chose to overlook that. If Donatello was taking the time to dote over April, he had more than earned it. More importantly, so had she.

As if sensing Splinter's thoughts, Raphael made a disparaging noise from his nest in the beanbag chair on the other side of the pit. "Jeez, Donnie, aren't you done yet? You've already taken five times longer on her than you ever do on us. Keep that up and her hand's gonna fall off."

Donatello blushed, but kept a firm hold on April's hand. "It may have escaped your notice, blockhead, but April is  _human_. Her skin is just a little bit different than ours. I'm just being thorough."

"And it has noooothing to do with the fact that you've gotten to hold her hand for the last half hour," Michelangelo chimed in from where he lay on the tire swing, repeatedly tossing a soccer ball and catching it. Donatello, seething, grabbed the jar of salve he had been using to treat April and pitched it at his brother's head with an accuracy Splinter couldn't help but admire proudly.

Michelangelo toppled off the swing with a yelp, splashing into the water below. He emerged, spitting water, and looked accusingly at Donatello. "Dude! I just  _had_  a shower!"

"Yeah, well, it didn't help the smell any," Donatello muttered, returning to his ministrations. Throughout the entire exchange, he still hadn't released April's hand. She was smiling at the interchange between the brothers, but she made no attempt to retrieve her hand, either. Sometimes, Splinter mused, it felt good to be spoiled a little. Especially after an ordeal such as she had endured.

Raphael gave a snort of amusement and shifted Spike on his shoulder – the moment Raphael had set foot in the lair, he had gone in frantic search of the little turtle – before returning his attention to the comic he held. It was different than the one that had been sitting on the bench upon their return to the lair. Raphael had thought that he went unobserved, but Splinter had watched him pick up the issue of  _From the Sewer_ , shudder at the picture on the cover, and carefully place the comic face-down at the bottom of the pile April had brought.

Splinter searched the room for his remaining son, concerned that he had heard nothing from him. Leonardo had been unusually serious upon their return. Though all four of the boys spent time cleaning their weapons before returning them to the dojo – it would never occur to any of them to skip that crucial step – Leonardo had spent a long time removing the gore from his katana, and had taken it upon himself to clean and polish the wooden weapons that had saved them when they could no longer use their weapons of choice. Splinter spotted him now, leaning against the wall near the doorway to the dojo, watching the rest of the family with his arms crossed and an expression on his face that Splinter found entirely out of place given the victory they had achieved this night.

Quietly, Splinter moved closer to his son, waiting for him to break the silence. He knew the instant Leonardo became aware of his presence, but it was a good few minutes longer before Leonardo spoke.

"She saved us all tonight," he said.

Splinter regarded Leonardo solemnly. "One would think that would be cause for celebration."

"It is," said Leonardo. "But I messed up,  _Sensei._  I tried to send her away. I never even considered that she would be able to help. If she hadn't been there…"

Donatello finally finished bandaging April's hand, relinquishing it with great reluctance, and Michelangelo seized his opportunity. "Hey, April! Heads up!" Unthinking, he pitched his soccer ball at her with every ounce of his ninja strength behind it.

April glanced over just as the ball struck her in the chest, sending her flying off the bench. Donatello was up in an instant, staring down in horror at the insensate girl sprawled at his feet, before he rounded on Michelangelo with murder in his eyes. " _Mikey!"_

Michelangelo stared in wide-eyed dismay at the scene. "Sorry!"

"You will be!" Raphael was also on his feet, and Michelangelo bolted with a shriek as both of his enraged brothers pursued him around the lair.

As April picked herself back up, Leonardo shook his head. "How is that the same girl?"

Splinter rested a hand on his son's shoulder. "You must not mistake an inability to fight for weakness, Leonardo." He sighed. "It is an easy mistake to make. I am guilty of it as well." At that, Leonardo looked at him, but Splinter merely smiled. "April may not be a ninja, but that does not make her weak. As leader, you must understand the strengths of  _all_ the members of your team, and know when the time comes to use them."

"So she's a member of the team, then?" asked Leonardo, a smile finally reaching his face.

"I do not think I could stop that now even if I wanted to," Splinter replied.

"So if you two are done talking about me," an amused voice interrupted, and they turned their attention to April, who was standing a few feet away. She pointed at the time display on the phone in her hand. "I should probably go pick up that pizza now."

Michelangelo ran past behind her, still screaming, his two brothers hot on his trail. Splinter continued to ignore the chase, and nodded. "Leonardo will accompany you."

" _Hai, Sensei,_ " Leonardo said, and went to retrieve his katana.

Left alone with Splinter, April clasped her hands behind her back and scuffed her toe against the floor. "About earlier," she said. "I'm sorry for running off like that."

Splinter leaned on his staff and regarded her fondly. "I understand why you acted as you did," he said. "Your heart was true, and your intentions were entirely noble. Indeed, I owe you my life as a result of your bravery." She had brightened visibly at his words, but he wasn't finished yet. "However, as the responsible adult in this household, I have this to say." He steeled his voice, fixing her with a glare that had every ounce of command that fifteen years of raising four headstrong, argumentative ninjas had instilled in him. "Do not  _ever_  do that again, young lady."

She went meek beneath his stare and nodded. "Yessir."

"Good girl." He patted her shoulder, and she smiled at him. In the pit behind her, Donatello and Raphael finally took down Michelangelo in a flailing pile of limbs.

Leonardo materialized back at her side, his katana in place on his back. "You ready?" he asked her.

She looked to Splinter for permission, and at his nod, she turned to Leonardo. "Lead on," she said. They made their way toward the turnstiles, the easy camaraderie between them born of a shared night of revelations for them both. "So we've done weed monsters, alien robots, and brain-eating mutant creatures. What are we going to do tomorrow night?"

"I don't know," said Leonardo. "What about vampires? We haven't done vampires yet."

"I could go for vampires," April replied. "Just as long as they don't sparkle."

Leonardo looked sharply at her. "Since when do vampires sparkle?"

April laughed. "Oh, you have  _no_ idea."

As they passed the struggling pile of ninjas on the floor, Donatello's head poked up out of the melee. "Hey, where are you going?" He struggled out of the fight, leaving Michelangelo pinned beneath Raphael, trapped in an arm-lock.

Raphael released his brother, delivering Michelangelo one final smack upside the head, and disappeared into the dojo. He emerged a moment later armed with his own weapons and carrying Donatello's bō. Tossing Donatello his weapon, Raphael joined him where April and Leonardo waited, and the four turned toward the exit.

"Hey!" Michelangelo stumbled to his feet and pelted toward the dojo. "Wait for me. I wanna come too!"

The others might not have waited, going on ahead to let their brother fetch his weapons and catch up. It was no great hardship; Michelangelo was by far the fastest of the four when he put his mind to it. But April paused at the turnstiles, waiting until the smallest of the turtles reached her before passing through alongside him. And because she waited, so did his brothers.

Splinter sighed as a spirited argument about comics, the periodic table of the elements, and the relevance of both to  _Space Heroes_  faded down the tunnel, and he headed toward the kitchen to set about making some fresh tea and putting the room in order. It was as he was boiling the kettle that he noticed that, without even thinking about it, he had set a sixth place at the table as though it were the most natural thing in the world. He realized then, as he had not until that moment, that there really was no going back to the way things had been before. April's arrival had upset their delicate balance, and Splinter was falling every bit as hard as his four sons.

And as he mused over everything she had done that night, despite her terror and inexperience, he realized that he wouldn't have it any other way. Quietly humming a lullaby he hadn't thought of in far too many years, he finished setting the table. Other nights the boys might return to grabbing what they could and retreating to their various hobbies as was their usual custom, with Splinter seeking peace in the dojo by himself. But tonight?

Tonight, he was having dinner with his family.

* * *

"Falling cover" by [discosmackdown](http://discosmackdown.tumblr.com)

"[Falling cover](http://snufflin.deviantart.com/art/Falling-353676908)" by snuffes

[Aftermath](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/93216263576/ive-started-to-read-falling-fanfic) by[ Ruslanan](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/image/93283791156)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends the first "episode". There are a whole mess of character interludes coming, and another big episode a bit later on.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	8. Titian (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April is unwell, and a new friend appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a brief interlude which I'm going to say takes place shortly after "From the Sewer." Heck, she must have caught SOMETHING from all that sewage. I spent much of last night and today being violently ill, and this is the story that wanted to get written.

**Titian: An Interlude** _  
_

* * *

April lurched down the hallway, clinging to the wall for support as her shaking legs seemed incredibly unreliable. She had assured her aunt that she would be fine with a little rest, but she was seriously beginning to doubt that assertion. Oh, she had been sick before. She'd been _very_  sick before. But somehow the memory of those times seemed like nothing while she was currently in the throes of a full-blown stomach flu. Now, she just wanted someone to kill her and put her out of her misery.

Stumbling into the bedroom, she wasn't sure she was even going to make it to the bed. Her laptop remained where she'd left it, though she supposed she should be grateful that it wasn't in pieces on the floor after her headlong rush to the bathroom. Moaning, she collapsed face-down on top of the covers next to it.

_Plink._

April groaned, heaving herself over until she could peer blearily at the screen. Of course it was him. Anyone else she could blow off without responding, but not him. She had to squint, since her eyes were showing a distressing inclination to focus independently, and she meant to type something reassuring like,  _I'd love to talk, but I'm not feeling well. I need to go to bed. Can we talk later?_

What ended up on the screen was:  ** _Cann't talk sik. bed now mornning later._**

 _Eh, close enough_ , she thought, and hit send. She closed the computer, attempted to set it on the floor without breaking it, and somehow managed to get herself under the covers without passing out. Everything else became a blur as she huddled under the blankets and shivered through the fever.

* * *

The nightmares came again that night, fuelled by the fever until they became writhing mutations of the dreams she had finally managed to bring under control. Robots of twisted, jagged metal reached for her, the brains in their stomachs leering as the cruel, unyielding hands grasped her arms and threatened to tear her apart. The ground dropped out beneath her and she tumbled into the darkness, bringing the robots with her, so that they continued to hurt her as she fell.

"Shhh. It's okay."

The quiet voice reached her through the delirium and she clung to it, following it like a lifeline out of the fever-dreams. She could feel herself thrashing against the covers, drenched with sweat, but couldn't manage to pull herself the rest of the way to waking. Then a hand, blessedly cool, laid itself against her forehead, and she stilled. She managed to let out a tiny whimper, which seared against the dryness of her throat.

The hand left her brow and slipped instead under her shoulders. April felt herself lifted with careful control, and the glass of water she'd had on her bedside table pressed gently against her mouth. She drank gratefully, trembling with exhaustion. That act alone drained the rest of the strength from her, and she sank into the pillows when he laid her back down. She was still shaking, but she quickly felt the blankets being pulled up around her.

A small creak and a thump sounded unnaturally loud in the silence of the room.

"What are  _you_  doing here?" The voice was still quiet, and contained more surprise than irritation.

"You said she was sick," another voice answered. There was no sound of anyone crossing the room, but when the voice spoke again, it was right next to her. "Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine. Humans get sick." The hand stroked her head again, chasing the tremors away. "Her temperature's already a lot lower than it was an hour ago."

Annoyance crept into the other voice. "Geez, Donnie, what, are you a doctor now, too?"

"Oh, please. Taking a temperature is basic science." A pause. "What is that?"

"Nothing." Defensiveness in the other voice.

"Did you bring that for her?"

"No! Maybe. Shut up." Another pause. "Would it be okay? It's not going to hurt her, is it?"

Warmth crept into the first voice. "No, I think she'll live."

Something soft brushed against her. "This is Titian, April. He's gonna take care of you, okay? He doesn't take crap from anyone. And he's got a thing for redheads."

"I still can't believe you named him that."

"What's wrong with his name?"

"Nothing. It just, you know, required reading. Actual books."

"Oh shut up, Donnie. I'm allowed to have depth." The softness against her shifted. "Do you think she'll know who it's from?"

"I think she'll be able to figure it out." Definite teasing in the voice this time.

The conversation continued, but April couldn't hold on anymore. The illness pulled her back down into the muffled dark places, but the nightmares didn't return. The softness against her side stood between them and kept the dreams at bay.

* * *

She woke briefly to find the thin light of early dawn filtering through her bedroom window. Her limbs ached with fatigue, but her head was finally clear, and the awful tremors had stopped. She knew without having to check that her fever had broken.

The bedroom was empty, but she wasn't alone. Turning her head to the mysterious softness pressed against her, she found herself staring at a large, worn, much-loved plush turtle. A silly grin had been stitched onto the turtle's head, and the eyes were round and friendly, but that wasn't what brought the smile to April's face. Over the turtle's plastic eyes, someone had tied a small, ragged red mask.

April curled herself against the turtle, wrapping her arms around it with a sigh. She let healing sleep overtake her once again, knowing that she could trust Titian to take on whatever dreams might threaten her in the dark.

* * *

"[Titian](http://discoart.tumblr.com/post/34642991935/so-about-that-one-fic-i-read-recently-where-at-one)" by discosmackdown

"[Titian](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/image/93300471926)" by Ruslanan

"[Titian](http://melty-art.tumblr.com/image/97783726969)" by melty94


	9. Just a Stick (An Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Donnie learns the true value of the weapon he carries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something I wondered about after "Metalhead." It's firmly within "Falling" canon rather than specifically the show, but I had fun with it.

**Interlude: Just a Stick**

* * *

 

A hand, gentle on her shoulder, pulled April out of sleep. Blinking, she had a brief moment of complete confusion before she looked up into the face of the rat standing over her. She pushed herself away from the laptop over which she had fallen asleep, utterly embarrassed, but Splinter only smiled.

"It is late, young lady, and I believe you have school tomorrow." His voice was gentle, with a warmth she desperately missed. As if he could read it in her face, which, she considered, he probably could, his hand tightened just a little on her shoulder. "Donatello will walk you home."

"Oh, that's all right." April rubbed at her eyes. "I'll be okay on my—"

He looked at her. Just looked. And the words died in her throat.

"Donatello. Will. Walk you home."

April bowed her head. "Yessir."

Splinter patted her shoulder before he straightened, folding his hands behind his back. "Donatello!  _Hayaku!_ "

"Coming!" Donnie stumbled from the dojo, finishing off the wrapping on his new bō as he walked.

Splinter laid a hand on his son's arm as he passed him. "Try to keep the heavy ordinance off this one."

Donatello blushed. " _Hai, sensei._ " He glanced at April. "You ready?"

April stashed her laptop in her messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Lead on."

As they made their way through the darkened tunnels, she couldn't help but notice that her friend was unusually silent. It wasn't the awkward silence that usually resulted when he remembered that she was a girl, either. He hadn't put his bō in its usual place on his back, using it instead as more of a walking stick, and she caught him staring at it once or twice with an odd expression on his face.

Finally, unable to stand the silence anymore, she said, "Splinter chose your weapons for you, didn't he?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." He sighed a little. "You really think I would have picked a stick for myself?"

"No, I figured your choice would have involved a lot more microchips." She adjusted her bag on her back. "Thing is… remember when Splinter let me watch you guys practice, and he had you trade off your weapons?"

"Yeah," Donnie said. "He wants us to keep in practice with anything we might have to use. Not that I really ever get the chance."

"Well, that's just it," said April. "You guys are all really good. I mean, scary good. But when the four of you are with your own weapons? When you have that stick?" She struggled to find the words. "You  _fly_. It's…kind of beautiful."

He stared at her, his brown eyes wide with bewilderment. "You really think so?"

"Yeah."

They kept walking, but the silence persisted. He still hadn't put the bō away. April pursed her lips, frustrated. Donnie could be annoying sometimes, especially when he was at the extremes of geekery or the crush on her that she was trying to ignore, but he was her friend, and seeing him upset made her deeply unhappy.  _I didn't want to do this, Donnie, but you're forcing me to bring out the big guns._

"Hey, Donnie?"

"Hmm."

"Can I ask you a question?"

He looked at her, brows raised. "Of course."

April stared fixedly down the tunnel. "If you hadn't had that stick, would you still have been able to reach the helicopter?"

With a sharp intake of breath, Donatello stopped dead in his tracks. Grinning smugly, April kept walking.  _Booyakasha._

In another minute, he caught up with her. This time, the bō was in its usual place on his back. Looking at him, she smiled, and patted the staff gently. "Thank you, stick."

He smiled back at her, and the silence that surrounded them this time was easy; they were content to just enjoy each other's company. She didn't really need to be walked home, but the companionship was nice, and it made him happy. And for all that he came on strong sometimes, she knew that he would always be there for her when she needed someone to catch her.

The least she could do was return the favour.

* * *

 

"[Just a Stick](http://jinja-neko.tumblr.com/post/62761071783/so-heres-what-ive-been-working-on-and-the)" by Jinja-neko

 


	10. Titian Returns (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a very sick April learns that having overprotective brother-types around isn't so bad sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was written during a very long stretch of being feverish and incredibly miserable. The scene at the beginning of this story actually happened (though I don't have any useful overprotective big brother-types hanging around to help), so this story is the one that wanted to be written. Apparently this is where my mind goes when I'm sick. I'm not sure where this fits in-canon, but it's early in Season 1.

 

**Titian Returns (an interlude)**

* * *

 

 _Why,_ April thought, in a moment of sheer self-indulgent misery,  _does my aunt have to be out of town_ tonight?

She staggered, shivering, toward the bathroom. She was probably lucky, she considered, that she wasn't sick more often, given where she spent most of her time these days. But a little escapade with the Purple Dragons three days ago had resulted in April ending up in a stream of something she hadn't wanted to consider all that closely, and she supposed it was inevitable that she had contracted something from it.

But oh, man, did it ever  _suck._

She groped her way down the hallway, not trusting the way the floor skewed under her feet.  _So cold._  She knew it was the fever, knew that the solution was to cool herself down, but her logic brain had disengaged. The only thought she had room for was the thought of getting warm. Shedding her socks as she shambled down the hall, she lurched into the bathroom and turned the taps on full.

All but toppling over the edge, she sank into the tub and let the water wash over her, her body shaking violently until the warmth finally seeped into her and she was, for the first time, warm enough. As the water reached the drain, she mustered her strength enough to turn the taps off. Then she sank back into the water, pillowing her head on the cold ceramic rim of the tub, and closed her eyes. A distant part of her mind registered that she was still wearing her pyjamas, but she was too far gone to care.  _I haven't told the guys I'm not going to make it over for dinner. I really ought to call-_

Unexpectedly, sleep dragged her under.

* * *

When she woke again, it was to that strange halfway place, only partway to waking. She floated, trapped in her own body, unable to move, unable to open her eyes. And she was  _cold_ again. Bitterly cold. The water had cooled around her, cocooning her in tepid misery, and she couldn't even wake up enough to crawl out of it.

A noise out in the hall. Muffled. Then a voice.

"Are you sure there's nobody else here?"

"I'm positive. Her aunt's out of town this weekend. That's why she was going to come over for dinner in the first place." A momentary pause. The second voice again, confused. "Wait, are these her socks?"

A soft creak. The hinges on the bathroom door needed oiling. "Oh, man. Donnie, I found her."

"What? Let me— _ow!_ Raph!"

"She's in the bath, doofus. You're not going in there. Here—"

There were soft sounds of scuffling, followed by a plaintive, "How exactly am I supposed to see with my mask on sideways?"

"You're not. That's the point. Just do the ninja thing." The door creaked again as it was pushed fully open. "It's not like I'm looking either." The soft sound of a towel being thrown across the room. "Hold on to this, will you?"

April's breath hitched, and a rasping cough wracked her lungs. The soft sound of water moving, and strong hands caught her and lifted her from the cool water. "Oh, sister, that does not sound good. Let's get you more comfortable." She was carried across the room, and then the hands holding her changed as the blessed warmth of her aunt's good bath towels wrapped around her. "Hang on to her a minute. Don't look."

"I'm  _not._  Jeez."

More softness enveloped her head, and those enormous hands, brusque but gentle, toweled the moisture from her hair. Somehow the movement, rough as it was, sent her back under again, and the sounds of the room faded into nothing.

* * *

When she was at least partly aware of her surroundings again, it was to hear a voice, rife with irritation, saying, "you do realize her pyjamas are on backwards?"

"Hey, you try getting her into dry ones in the dark with your eyes closed. Clothes are weird." The sound of rustling reached her from across the room.

She was being lifted again, and laid down on the blissful softness of her pillows. She shivered, and the gentle hands holding her brushed over her hair once before pulling up the blankets around her. From close to her head, she heard, "Raph, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find Titian. Help me out, here."

"Oh, for the love of—" but a second set of rustlings joined the first.

April coughed again, sending knives of pain shooting down her throat and lungs. The sounds in the room stopped momentarily.

"She  _is_  going to be okay, right?"

A hand rested on her forehead. "I think so. She doesn't have a fever, anyway. She probably did earlier, which is why she ended up in the bath. I've read that feverish humans will instinctively try to get warm, even though the best course of action is to bring their temperature down." The hand left her head and the voice moved away across the room. "In a way, falling asleep in there was probably a lot more useful to her."

"Yeah, well. I'll be happier when she's on her feet again." The sliding of the closet door.

"Agreed. We'll send her to the doctor tomorrow if she isn't any-"

"Ah-ha!"

"Found it?"

"Yeah. We were looking in the stuffed toys, but she had him shelved with action heroes." A scraping from the shelf. "I knew I trusted him to the right person." Footsteps crossed the room. "You're falling down on the job there, buddy. You're supposed to watch out for our girl here, not let her almost drown herself in her own bathtub."

"…you do know that's a stuffed animal, right?"

"Shut up, Donnie."

Something soft pressed against her. April wrapped herself around it, and as her body curved around the familiar warmth of Titian, that jolt of recognition pulled her the rest of the way to waking.  _Donnie. Raph._

"Guys?"

Her voice was raspy and weak, and it hurt to talk, but it was enough.

"Hey, she speaks." Raph's voice, coming closer. "How you feeling, kid?"

She felt the edges of the bed shift, and she opened her eyes. Squinting against the light, she could see two blurry forms standing over her, one green and red, the other green and purple. She frowned. "Why are you all fuzzy? Stop it."

The two fuzzy forms looked at each other, and Donnie put his hand on her head. "Tell you what. You promise to get some sleep, and we'll promise to stop being fuzzy. Deal?"

"M'kay." She hugged Titian tighter to her, and looked into the toy's goofy grin. "Hey, guys?"

Donnie shifted next to her. "Yeah, April?"

She reached out a hand, annoyed to see that it was shaking. Donnie quickly took it in his, his strength steadying her and giving her the courage she needed for her next words. "Will you stay with me for a while?" She bit her lip. "It's scary, being sick all by yourself."

They exchanged a look again. "I think we can manage that," said Raph.

She looked at Titian again, his grin encouraging her. She ducked down into the pillows, making herself look as small as possible, and asked, "Will you tell me a story?"

"Uh…"

Donnie snickered. "Yeah, Raph, tell her a story." His hand patted hers. "She's sick."

Her eyes were focusing well enough to see the pained expression on Raphael's face. "Um… so there was this monster, in the sewer. And one day these jerks on a construction crew woke it up and it ate—"

"Raph! You can't tell a story like that to a sick person with a fever! Are you  _trying_  to give her nightmares?"

"Well I'd like to see you do better, braniac."

"Fine!" Donnie tucked her hand under the covers. "Once upon a time, there was a magic land ruled by a stunningly beautiful princess named April."

"Oh, gag me. Talk about nightmares."

"Shut up. And she ruled this magic land with the help of her closest friend in the entire world, the wise wizard Donatello."

"I'm detecting a slight hint of bias in this story."

"The court idiot was there, too. His name was Raphael."

"Hey!"

"So one day the beautiful princess received a message—"

"That Raphael was actually a total badass, and he kicked everyone's butt and took over the country—"

"Ahem!"

"Uh… but he still let April rule it, because she was pretty cool. But Donatello was a jerk so they kicked him out of the country—"

"So Donatello raised an army to rescue the princess from the evil tyrant—"

"Which failed, because the army was as wimpy as Donatello, and Raphael's army handed their shells to them—"

"Until Donatello cast an anti-stupid spell that took out Raphael!"

"Oh yeah! I'll show you—"

"Hey!"

April bounced as Raph launched himself across the bed, taking Donnie to the ground on the other side. They scuffled together until Raph did something to Donnie that made him cry out in outrage. "Raph! Splinter said you can't do that! It's fighting dirty!"

"Oh, yeah. Good thing Splinter's not here, then!"

The fight degenerated into a mass of grunting and unintelligible outbursts as the brothers wrestled with each other on her bedroom floor. April let her eyes drift closed again, pulling Titian close. She had her somewhat preoccupied ninja bodyguards to keep her safe from physical harm, and her fuzzy green protector to keep her fever dreams at bay. As she started drifting off again, she found herself wondering at the fact that she wasn't even sorry that her aunt was away anymore.

She'd fallen into this family by accident, but as she listened to the squabbling on the floor next to her, she couldn't imagine being without them anymore. Smiling, she gave a soft sigh of contentment, and fell asleep.

* * *

"[Watching over April](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/Watching-Over-April-404114416)" by heartofanalterego

"[April and Titian](http://sesshomarusama3.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-2012-Falling-April-and-Titan-382932806)" by sesshoumarusama3

"[The Story](http://stormynight108.tumblr.com/post/51094849581/boredom-does-really-crazy-things-this-turned-out)" by stormynight108

"[April and Titian](http://snuffes.tumblr.com/post/40124003746/figures-that-the-first-thing-i-draw-is-fanart)" by snuffes

"Titian Returns" [Part 1](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/93412714501/hmmm-i-forgot-that-tumblr-has-restrictions-on) & [Part 2](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/93509155596/chapter-titian-returns-of-falling) by Ruslanan

 

 

 


	11. Ninja's Honour (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April calls on a turtle for help and gets schooled a little in return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one ideally takes place just before "Metalhead", but I'm exercising authorial powers of warping space-time and pretending they already have the Tphone. I'm trying to stick to canon as much as possible, but it's just so much easier if they already have them at this point. There was a slightly larger shift in April's effectiveness against the Kraang between the end of the pilot and Metalhead than I thought could be accounted for by "I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad." So here's my theory (but with timey-wimey Tphone).
> 
> Disclaimer: This is the first thing I've written for which you actually need to have read From the Sewer and the other interludes to get some of the dialogue and references, but the story overall should still make sense if you haven't.

 

**Ninja's Honour**

* * *

 

April sat in the middle of her bed, scrolling through the message history on her phone. She'd turned off most of the lights in the room; only her bedside lamp and the glow from her phone betrayed that there was anyone in the house at all. Given her mood, it suited her just fine. Frowning, she paused at the message thread she wanted and read them back, starting with her own.

**_Can you come over? There's something I really need to talk to you about._ **

**_SUR IL GET OHTERS_ **

Of course he texted in all-caps. And she couldn't really fault him for the typing; she hadn't really considered the size of his fingers when she'd chosen text as her method of communication, though the others managed just fine. Then again, Donnie's mastery of any tech wasn't really a surprise. and Mikey spent enough time with human-sized game controllers that buttons weren't really an issue for him; it was one of the ways in which she'd discovered that he could get really good at something scarily fast when it was interesting enough to hold his attention for more than five minutes. And Leo was just a perfectionist; he'd see it as a point of principle. Sighing, she scrolled to her next message. She'd nearly broken her fingers trying to get that one in before he acted on his earlier text.

 ** _nO DONOT GET THE OTHERS!1! NO OTHERS!_** Then, once that one was off, she had added,  ** _I need you to come alone. Please don't tell anyone._**

There had been a bit of a pause after that.  ** _UR NOT FOOT R U_**

She couldn't get mad at that. Even she had to admit, it totally sounded like she was inviting him into a trap. Especially after what had happened with Mikey after she'd introduced him to social networking.  ** _No, it's me. April._**

**_PROVEIT_ **

That one had made her exclaim aloud in frustration, but she'd managed to come up with:  ** _You sing lullabies to Spike when you think nobody's listening._**

There'd been a really long pause between messages after that.  ** _IF U TELL NE1 ABOT THAT I WIL POUND U DONT CAR IF URA GRL_**

**_So you'll come?_ **

There had been no response after that, and the phone had been quiet for almost half an hour. Sighing, she curled herself up on the bed and tried to figure out what she was going to do. She supposed she could try the internet. It was just so...impersonal. And that was so not what she wanted right now.

"April!"

" _Yaaaugh!_ " She clutched at the bed to keep from falling off.  _Freaking ninjas are going to give me a heart attack before I'm twenty._  She turned to glare at her intruder. "Knocking, Raph. It's called knocking!"

Raph had been crouched on her windowsill with a stormy expression on his face, but the instant she turned to him, his eyes widened and he burst out laughing. She shrank into herself, raising a self-conscious hand to the frame of her glasses. "I can't wear my contacts right now, okay?" As his laughter continued, she snagged one of her pillows and pitched it at him.

He dodged the pillow easily, but as her dive for the pillow brought her into the light of the bedside lamp, his laughter stopped. He was staring at the stuffed turtle clutched in April's arms, which she'd been clinging to like a lifeline since she'd gotten home. Raising his gaze to her face, Raph saw for the first time why April had been forced to switch to her glasses in the first place, and his expression went dark. He dropped from the windowsill into her room, pushing the window closed behind him, and moved to stand next to her bed, his arms folded across his chest.

"Okay, who do I have to punch?"

She sighed. "Nobody."

"April..." his growling voice contained a note of caution.

She looked away, clutching Titian even tighter. "Isortathrewthefirstpunch," she mumbled.

Raph raised a brow at her. "Really?" When she refused to elaborate, he frowned. "So if you don't need me to beat anybody up for you, why am I here?"

"Because it hurts and I'm scared and I don't know what to  _do!"_  she said, and though she wasn't about to start crying, the frustration was making her eyes water.

An expression of panic crept across Raph's face. "Jeez, April, why  _me?_ This is totally Donnie's thing. _"_

"Because Donnie would freak out, and Leo would get all disappointed and stuff, and Mikey..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, probably a good call on that last one." He sighed in defeat. "All right, fine. Anybody else here?"

She shook her head. "My aunt's out of town overnight on business."

"Come on then." He yanked open her bedroom door and marched down the hall, not bothering to look back to see if she followed. Setting Titian aside, she went after him. It occurred to her to wonder how he knew the layout of the place so well, but then, she'd learned that when you were hanging out with a family of ninjas, sometimes it was better not to question these things.

She caught up with him in the kitchen as he was turning on the full overhead lights, making the place as bright as possible. She noted that he'd already closed the curtains over the window. He gestured at the counter expectantly, and she tried to hoist herself up on it, but it was a high counter, and her arm still really hurt. After the second time she slipped back to the floor, he rolled his eyes, grabbed her around the waist, and parked her firmly on the countertop.

"Lose the glasses," he said, not ungently.

She took them off and set them on the counter beside her, the world going into soft focus. His hand caught her chin and tilted her face up to the light. The calluses on his hands were rougher than those of his brothers, but he was careful with her, his face looming into focus as he inspected the awful bruising around her eye.

"Any change in how you're seeing out of this one?" he asked.

"Other than the fact that it really hurts to blink? No."

"Mmm. Should be fine. Couple of scrapes here, though." He let go of her and opened the cupboard next to her head, pulling down a small bowl. Filling it with soap and water, he grabbed a clean dishcloth out of the drawer next to the sink and wet it. He caught her face again with his free hand to hold her still – easy for him, since his hand was pretty much the size of her entire head. She hadn't thought it was necessary until he touched the soapy cloth to her face and she jerked instinctively away from it. She couldn't get anywhere though. His fingers were gentle, but they'd locked her in like a vise.

"So," he said, as he carefully cleaned the blood away. "How's the other girl look?"

"Guy," she corrected bitterly. "And a heck of a lot better than I do."

"A guy beat you up?" His eyes went wide, and his voice rang with indignation. "What kind of guy hits a girl?"

"A jerk," she said. "And I told you, I did kind of throw the first punch."

"Yeah," he said. "Somehow that doesn't seem like you. You can be scary and all when something ticks you off, but usually you've got more sense than that." He set the cloth down, gauging her expression, and put his fists on his hips. "What happened?"

"This guy, Josh-"

"Josh? You got beat up by a guy named  _Josh?_ " She glared at him and he stopped laughing, holding up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, sorry."

"He's a jerk to a lot of people," she said. "And today he was picking on this girl at school, Yu. Her family just moved here, and her English isn't that good yet, and he was being so  _mean_..." Her fists clenched just thinking about it.

"So that's when you hit him?"

"No, that's when I called him a mouth-breathing neanderthal." She looked down. "And that's when he called me some really awful names, and said it was no wonder that my dad ditched me."

Raph went silent, and she looked back up at him. She was startled to see an expression on his face that she hadn't really ever associated with Raph. Then again, thinking back to the stuffed turtle waiting back in her bedroom, he had as much room for compassion in him as any of his brothers. He was just really good at hiding it.

"So anyway," she finished. "That's when I hit him."

"Yeah, that worked out really well for you." He went to the freezer and opened the door, rummaging around inside of it for something.

"I couldn't help it," she said. "I mean, the other stuff I can take, but that? I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even see. I just..."

"Wanted him to hurt as much as you did," Raph finished for her. He returned, holding a bag of frozen peas, and wrapped it in a clean dish towel from the drawer. "Boy, did you ever pick the wrong turtle for this." He laid the makeshift ice pack carefully over her eye. "Thing is, even when people are calling you names and stuff, you can't let that make you do something stupid."

She raised the brow that wasn't covered by peas.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Irony or whatever. I told you you got the wrong turtle." He took her wrist and pulled her hand up to the ice pack, taking his hand away as she took over. "But a very wise rat recently told me that when someone is making weapons out of words, you have to let the words wash over you like a river flowing over stone. If you let them get to you, some seriously messed up things can happen." He gestured at her. "Of course, that shiner takes out my competition for the pretty one in our little group, so it's not all bad."

She returned his grin as he leaned against the counter next to her. "You know," she said, "I could point out that you hit Mikey all the time."

"I  _smack_  Mikey," he corrected. "I'm not trying to  _hurt_  Mikey. There's a difference between whacking your annoying brother and fighting." He struggled to find the words. "It's an honour thing, you know? You gotta rise above it and be the better person, or you become as bad as they are." He smirked. "Besides, there's only room for one hothead on this team. Someone has to have more sense than me, and I refuse to give Leo the satisfaction, so I'm nominating you for the job."

"Does that mean I get to smack you when you're being an idiot?"

"Don't push it, kid."

She grinned. "Okay, so when  _is_  it okay to hit somebody?"

"Rule of thumb? After they throw the first punch. Speaking of." He picked up the hand she had used to try to hit Josh, which still bore the scrapes from her failed attempt. "This is just sad. So we're gonna fix that before we're done here." He pulled the peas away from her eye and set them on the counter. "Ten minutes on, ten minutes off. So we got ten minutes." He backed up and stood in the middle of the kitchen. "Hit me."

April blinked at him. "What?"

"You heard me." He spread his hands. "Hit me."

April folded her arms. "You know, the last time one of you told me to do that, I ended up on the floor with a sword against my neck."

"Do I  _look_  like Leo? Now stop stalling."

Sighing, she pushed herself off the counter and walked over to him. Her cheeks heating with embarrassment, she made a fist and swung it at him as hard as she could.

His hand engulfed hers and he shook his head. "Yeah, no wonder he walked away. That was pathetic. Come on, I've seen you swing a bat. Pretend I'm a Kraang."

She clenched her jaw and tried again. Once again, he caught her hand like it was a whiffle ball, and he groaned. "April, you are  _killing_  me here." He released her fist, shifting her fingers around. "Thumb goes here unless you want to break it." He walked around behind her and placed an arm around her waist so that he could wedge his foot between hers and push them apart. "Feet here or you're gonna get knocked down no matter what happens." Letting go of her, he picked up her arm and pulled it back toward her shoulder. He placed his other hand on her back. "Use these muscles here, and punch straight out. You're swinging sideways right now. I'm not over there, and you're using all your force that way." He moved closer and placed his hand over hers, twisting her fist as he extended her arm. "You're gonna feel that the bones in your arm want to move this way. Let them do it and you'll get more force out of it."

"That makes sense," she mused. "The torque would—"

"Ugh, don't Donnie me, please, I can barely stand the original." He moved to stand in front of her. "Okay, try again."

April took a deep breath, trying to remember everything he'd just said. She hauled back, steeled herself, and released. Her fist smacked into his palm again. But this time, he was smiling. "A little more practice," he said, "and I might actually feel that."

Ten minutes later, the peas back over her eye, April sighed. Her shoulder and arm were killing her, but Raph had proclaimed her no longer a total embarrassment. As they headed back to her bedroom, she winced at the pressure of the bag against her bruised skin. "So, how long before this goes away?"

"About two weeks, give or take."

"Two weeks!" she stopped dead outside her bedroom door. "I can't have this thing for two weeks; my aunt gets home tomorrow! What is she gonna say? What are the others gonna say?" She paled. "What is _Splinter_  gonna say?"

"Relax, April," said Raph, his hand resting on the doorknob. "Just tell 'em you walked into a door."

" _Who actually does that?"_

Without warning, the edge of her bedroom door filled her vision. The next thing she knew, she was lying on the floor in the hallway, looking up at a pair of incredibly smug green eyes. "There you go," said Raph.

As he held out a hand to help her back to her feet, she wondered if she was going to survive being friends with this family. Thus far, her track record kind of stunk.

* * *

Leo ducked as a metal head streaked through the space where his own had been an instant before. "Raph! Will you watch what you're doing!"

"Sorry, Leo," he said, not sounding sorry in the least. He impaled the headless Kraang on a sai, flinging it over at the one Mikey was fighting and taking them both out. "Hey, Donnie." He threw himself on another, stabbing it until it lost power and went down. The alien within slithered past Raph's feet and disappeared into the shadows of the alley. "How would you keep the creamy brain filling from popping out of one of these?"

Donnie, bō overhead to hold off the energy weapon of the Kraang opposite him, widened his eyes. "Why would you  _want_  to?" He disengaged, sweeping the bō around and sending the Kraang toward Mikey, who met it head-on and took it out with his kusarigama.

"Humour me." Running up the wall ahead of the Kraang pursuing him, Raph landed on top of it and locked its arm with a sai.

As the Kraang stumbled around, trying to dislodge Raph, Donatello rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, the neural interface that allows the symbiont to automate the—"

"Skip the explanation!"

"Try taking out one of the purple diamond things on its chest. I don't think that'll keep it in there, but it might slow it down a little."

"Thanks!" Raph dropped from the robot's shoulders and swept his leg, taking the robot to the ground. Before it could get up, Raph stabbed the aforementioned purple diamond, and the diamonds went dark. The robot was still struggling, but Raph plunged a sai into each shoulder, pinning the thing to the ground.

Leo bisected the last Kraang he was fighting, ignoring the brain that leaped out and skittered past his foot as he saw what Raph was doing. Mikey and Donnie finished off their opponents and joined him in staring at their brother. As the robot kicked feebly at him, Raph casually ripped off both of its legs.

"What are you  _doing_?" Leo demanded.

"Keeping a promise," Raph said. Surveying his work with satisfaction, hands on his hips, he looked up. "Hey! April!" The familiar red head popped over the edge of the roof above them, and Raph pointed at the ground. "Get down here!"

"What?" her voice drifted down to them.

"You heard me!"

From her perch on top of the building, April looked at Leo, the fading bruise around her eye that had been there since she had walked into a door a few weeks earlier making her look even more bewildered. He shrugged at her. He had absolutely no idea where Raph was going with this. Planting a hand on the ledge of the rooftop, April vaulted over the edge and fell into Raph's arms.

Raph set her on her feet and gestured at the Kraang. She looked up at him in confusion, and he gave her the grin that all of his brothers had come to recognize as trouble. "He threw the first punch." As the Kraang attempted to lift its robot head, Raph planted his foot on it and held it down.

Understanding dawned across April's face. With a little squeal of glee, she jumped up on her toes and dropped a delighted kiss on Raph's cheek. As his brothers stared at him in astonishment, Donnie looking like he was about to drop through the pavement, Raph folded his arms and tried to look smug despite the blush spreading furiously across his face.

April, on the other hand, had dropped to her knees next to the Kraang, bearing an expression that was disturbingly close to Raph's. She hauled back her fist, tucking it close to her shoulder, and punched the brain square in what passed for its face. " _That_  is for kidnapping me!" She hit it again. "And  _that_  is for my father! And  _that_  is for the stupid way you talk!"

As April continued to pound on the Kraang, Mikey's face broke out into a grin. "Cooool. She gets to play 'punch the Kraang' for real!"

Leo ignored that, accustomed to having no idea what Mikey was talking about, and turned to Raph, gesturing at April with a look that demanded explanation.

"Oh, come on," said Raph. "You remember what I said back when she was stuck on that pipe and was too scared to get across."

"Of course I do," Leo snapped. "And it's just as inappropriate now as it was then!"

"I made her a promise," Raph said. "We have to keep our promises, right? Ninja's honour."

Leo placed a despairing hand on his head. "Sometimes, Raph, you really scare me."

"I don't know," said Mikey. "I'm kinda more scared of April right now. She hits pretty good for a girl."

"I know, right?" said Raph proudly.

Beneath her constant assault, the Kraang had finally managed to work its way free of the robot body trapping it, and it leaped on April's face. Before the brothers could move to help her, she raised her own hand and started pummeling it. The Kraang toppled off, April letting out an "ow!" as she caught herself with her own fist, and it fled in terror past April. Glaring, she leaped to her feet, grabbing up a pipe that was lying abandoned in the alley. "Oh, no, you don't!" She took off after the alien, vanishing into the dark. " _Get back here!_ "

Leo stared after her, still not quite able to believe what had just happened. Donnie stepped up beside him, and looked at Leo with concern. "Do you think we should go after her?"

Raph snorted. "What, you're not worried about her, are you?"

An alien shriek drifted out of the distance, followed by an enraged,  _"Oh yeah? Come back here and say that to my face!"_

Donnie winced. "At this point, I'm actually more worried about the Kraang."

Without another word, they took off into the night, following the string of expletives toward April. Leo glanced over at Raph as they skimmed the edge of a rooftop, and something in Raph's expression gave him pause. Clearly, at some point in recent history, Raph had done something that had seriously influenced April. But as he looked at his brother's face, he wondered if maybe April hadn't also had an effect on Raph. One that his angry, headstrong brother had sorely needed.

A particularly loud exclamation from April told them that the runaway Kraang had found some of its colleagues. Grinning at his brothers, Leo launched himself from the rooftop and they fell into the fray.

* * *

"[Ninja's Honour](http://fantasiawandering.tumblr.com/post/98150003429/absolutely-stunning-commission-by-sir-whirl)" by [sir-whirl](http://sir-whirl.tumblr.com)

"[Prove it](http://jinja-neko.tumblr.com/post/62786133130/doodles-from-from-my-evening-with-friends-at-our)" by Jinja-neko

"April and Titian" by sugar-skully

"[Ninja's Honour](http://jasjuliet.tumblr.com/post/47328355504/in-which-raph-gives-april-some-first-aid-the)" by Jasjuliet

"[April](http://snuffes.tumblr.com/post/40168689520/another-crappy-quality-pencil-fanart-drawing-for)" by snuffes

"[Punch the Kraang](http://www.deviantart.com/art/Punch-The-Kraang-397600862)" by heartofanalterego

"[Ninja's Honour](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/93964905161/chapter-ninjas-honour-of-falling-by)" by Ruslanan

Sketches ([including Titian](http://alfheimr.tumblr.com/post/94614156289/the-fact-that-the-turtles-dont-translate-well-to)) by alfheimr


	12. Learning to Fly (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April's training goes to the next level, and Donnie hacks some e-mail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has been coming since pretty much the first chapter. I just needed to find the right spot for it. This one takes place immediately after "The Gauntlet", assumes that about two weeks pass between that and "Panic in the Sewers," and addresses a lot of the Falling!canon stuff in both "Falling"(the original chapter), and "From the Sewer." This is also part of the reason why I needed to set "Ninja's Honour" first.
> 
> And yeah, I know it's long. But the boys kind of took control of this one.

 

**Learning to Fly (An Interlude)**

* * *

 

It was so dark. April moved cautiously through the blackness, feeling nothing underfoot to tell her where she was. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. She had no idea how she'd gotten here, or even where  _here_  was. "Hello?" Her words fell like lead into the darkness. She shivered harder; it was so cold. "Guys?" Her voice was little more than a whisper now.

There was wind stirring her hair. She turned around, but there was no end to the darkness.

"April?"

She knew that voice. Her eyes widened, and she pressed her hands to her mouth. "Daddy?"

She could see him now, faint in the darkness, and he blurred as tears stung her eyes. "Daddy!" She flung herself toward him, and as he caught her in his arms, she buried her face against his chest, breathing in the smell of love, and safety, and home. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, April." His hand stroked her hair, as he had done so often when she was little to chase the nightmares away. "I wish you could have found me sooner."

She sniffled, opening her eyes. "What?"

"It's too late now. You shouldn't have left me behind, you know."

April placed her hands on his chest and pushed back from him until she could see his face clearly. "I don't understand. Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Why did you leave me, April?" His hands flexed on her shoulders and erupted, stretching into long, thorny vines that wrapped around her arms. April screamed, trying to push away from him, but the vines tangled around her body, squeezing the breath out of her. As she watched, horrified, his face began to change, elongating as a mist of grey feathers sprouted over his skin. Frantic, April strained against him, trying to break his hold. Her hands caught in his shirt, and it tore open. The pink brain sitting in his chest opened glowing eyes and screamed at her, and she fell backward.

The source of the wind was clear to her now. They were in a helicopter. And as she plunged into the endless darkness, she screamed for all she was worth, knowing that nothing was going to save her now...

"April?  _April!"_

His vines were still all over her. Why couldn't he leave her alone? She lashed out against him, but he wouldn't let go.

" _April, wake up!_ "

Her eyes flew open and she choked, gasping, her face soaked with tears. She found herself sitting upright, the focus of Donnie's brown eyes, which were wide with fear. His hands tightened on her arms as she stared, not yet quite seeing.

"I'm falling," she breathed.

"You're not falling," he said, urgency in his hushed voice. "I'm here. I've got you."

Gradually, she began to become aware of her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was the turtles coming home, defeated, from their battle with the Shredder. April, already emotionally wrung out from losing her father for the second time, could do nothing but sit there with her arms around her knees, unable to look at them, caught in her own sorrow. She must have been more exhausted than she thought, for she was still on the edge of the pit, only now there pillows beneath her and a blanket covering her legs. The rest of the room was empty, with one notable exception, who was kneeling on the bench in the pit just beside her. "Donnie?"

The worry on his face eased a little as she said his name. "The one and only."

She shuddered. "It was... the helicopter. Again. I was falling…" He let go of her arms and took her hand in both of his, his eyes filled with concern for her despite the marks of battle that still covered his body. She looked up at him, really seeing him for the first time as the last shreds of the nightmare tore free. "You caught me."

"Yeah, I did." He gave her a little smile. "I'd do it again, too."

His face blurred as tears pricked at her eyes again. "I never said thank you."

Shock spread across his features, and he brought a hand to her tear-streaked face. "April," he said, gentle astonishment in his voice. "You didn't  _have_  to."

And that one bit of kindness undid her. The tears began to flow freely and she buried her face in her hands. Donnie, caught off guard, could do nothing but stare at her for a moment. Then he moved closer, wrapping his arms around her, and she sobbed into his chest with all she was worth. Everything that had been building inside of her for the past few months - the pain of losing her dad; the fear of falling that had been growing progressively worse; the hurt as her human friends drew away from her, unsure of what to say; the terrible, crushing loneliness that only her time with the four brothers could keep at bay - all of it came pouring out of her as she wept, finally lanced in that one unguarded moment.

Throughout it all, he held her with the same boundless strength that had saved her from the fall on that first night they had met, and she knew that until she was ready, there was no force on Earth that would make him let her go. For the first time since the Kraang had taken her off the street, she felt really and truly  _safe_. And it was that realization that allowed her to start bringing the tears back under control.

* * *

He was used to having several lines of thought running through his head at once; ninjutsu moves warred constantly with blueprints and lines of computer code for ascendance. There wasn't much that could make him narrow all his attention to one single thing – in that way, he supposed, he was a little like Mikey – but right now, every fibre of his being was focused on the girl who clung desperately to him like he was her line in a storm. So he was aware of the moment that the terrifying flood of tears began to ebb. Sighing in quiet relief, he held her close and rested his chin on top of her head. He knew she'd been having nightmares, but he'd had no idea that they, or her fear of falling, were so bad.

Without moving, he met the gazes of the four other silent observers on the fringes of the room, and gave the tiniest of nods, watching the tense expressions on their faces ease. April's sobs were changing now, slowly starting to abate.

"S-sorry," she managed to choke out.

"Nothing to be sorry for," he assured her.

"I just m-miss him so  _much_!"

"I know. I promised we'll find him, and I meant that." He wracked his brain, desperately trying to say anything he could to make her stop hurting. "And you know a ninja always keeps his promises, right?"

That managed to get a watery laugh out of her. "I'm learning that," she said. She drew a shaking breath, her voice still muffled against him.

Her tears were stopping now, enough that he was able to loosen his hold a bit. "How long have you been having nightmares?"

"A while," she admitted shakily. "They're getting worse, though. Sometimes it helps to have Titian, but tonight was a bad one." Her voice hitched again. "Promise you won't tell the others I cried? Especially Raph. I don't want him to laugh."

"I won't say a word," Donnie said, not exactly lying. Raph was looking at her like she'd just clocked him with her bat. "But between you and me? Raph wouldn't laugh at you for crying. Not over this."

Raph's devastated expression softened, and he gave Donnie a wry salute. Without making any sound that would alert April to his presence, Raph turned and placed a hand on Mikey's shell, leading their smallest brother out of the room. Mikey kept glancing back, dismay shadowing his normally carefree features, and Donnie marveled at the fact that even though it was April who was upset, it was Mikey who managed to look like a kicked puppy. But as much as Mikey clearly wanted to stay, he also trusted Raph's judgment, and allowed himself to be ushered back to bed.

April's breathing was beginning to even out, but she was still shaking. Donnie frowned against the top of her head, a plan already beginning to form. "I don't know what I can do about the nightmares, but maybe there's something we can do about the falling thing." He looked over her head to where Leo and Splinter were standing. The two of them exchanged a look, and Leo held up two fingers. Donnie nodded and turned an expectant gaze to Splinter, who looked from one son to the other, and finally bowed his head at Donatello. Donnie smiled his thanks back at his father. "There's an exercise we used to do when we were kids that might help."

"Really?" The hope in her voice tore at him.

"Really." As Splinter and Leo vanished into the dark as well, Donnie pushed April back gently, holding her at arm's length. "But not till tomorrow. You need some sleep."

She looked around awkwardly. "I should go—"

"Nope. You should stay right there."

"But my aunt—"

"Leo texted her with your phone right after you passed out. As far as she knows, you're staying over at a friend's house." He thought about that for a moment. "Which is technically true, I guess. She wants you to pick up eggs when you come home, by the way." He let go of her and slid to a seated position on the bench. "You're exhausted, and you know what Splinter would say if we even thought about letting you go home at 4 am."

She drew the blanket up to her chest. "It would involve a lot of scolding."

Donnie smiled at her, picking up his laptop and opening it as he settled himself on the bench just below where she lay, keeping himself well within arm's reach. "You go to sleep. I'll be right here."

She allowed her head to settle on the pillows, but her expression was still shadowed, even as she yawned. "You don't have to do that. I'll be fine."

"I know you will. I'm doing it anyway."

"But—"

"Go to sleep, April." He hit a quick key combination on his laptop, and the remaining lights in the lair powered down with a quiet hum, leaving his monitor as the only source of light in the room.

"Showoff," came her sleepy voice from the darkness.

He smiled, but refrained from commenting as he worked, listening instead to the sound of her breathing. As it began to slow, evening out, he reached up and gently pulled the blanket over her shoulders. She let out a little sigh, and he returned to his typing, carefully formulating the plan that they would begin in the morning, his tapping on the keys the lullaby he used to soothe her back into sleep.

She'd need it. She had a long couple of weeks ahead of her.

* * *

April groaned softly as her consciousness was dragged, kicking and screaming, back to waking. Something felt really off. Whatever she was lying on wasn't her bed, and the sounds and smells around her weren't her aunt's apartment. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Green filled her field of vision. A hairsbreadth from her face, wide blue eyes stared into hers, their owner smiling expectantly.

"Aaargh!" April flailed, toppling off the edge of the pit onto the bench.

Mikey dropped himself onto his stomach on her pile of pillows and folded his arms, resting his chin on them as he looked down over the edge of the pit at her. "Donnie!" he hollered. "She's up!"

"Wha—" came her intelligent exclamation.

"He's taking charge of the exercise," said a voice from behind her, startling her again so that she slid off the bench to the floor. Leo looked down at her with open amusement and offered her a hand up.

Settling herself on the bench, April stared at them, and a wave of guilt washed over her. She should have known that Leo wouldn't miss it. The amusement faded from his face, and he frowned in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said.

Leo crossed his arms, and Mikey snickered. "Better tell him, April. That's his 'Captain Ryan' face."

She hugged her arms around herself, feeling the heat rising to her face. "It's just...look at you." She gestured at the cuts and bruising that still marred their skin and their shells. "You guys are hurt, but I went and made it all about me last night, and now Donnie's off dealing with  _that—"_

Leo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hold it right there, April. First off, we may be banged up, but we know we're not the only ones who got hurt last night."

"Leonardo is right," a solemn voice said, and April craned her neck up to look at Splinter. He regarded her with the same gentle compassion he had shown the night before when the boys had led her in, heartbroken and adrift, and he had taken charge of her care while they armed themselves and left to deal with the mutagen bomb. "Some wounds lie deeper than the surface, but it does not mean they should be ignored."

"Besides," Mikey said. "It's Donnie we're talking about." He had his Tphone out and was playing some kind of game on it, lying on his back on her makeshift bed. "Donnie fixes things. That's what he does."

Before April could reply, the aforementioned turtle stuck his head out of the dojo. "Oh, good!" He hurried to the edge of the pit and held out his hand. "It's all ready." He looked down at her and smiled.

That squashed the guilt in her unvoiced as she was flung, unwilling, to the middle of an empty street, surrounded by emotionless goons and one very eager turtle. Shaking her head to clear it of the flashback, she gave Donnie her hand. He hauled her out of the pit and led her toward the dojo.

Raph was leaning against the wall by the door, and grinned at her as they passed by. "Good luck."

Eyes widening, April wondered how he'd managed to make those two words sound so ominous.

When they got inside the room, illuminated by the light streaming through the grating above, she was surprised to find it empty save for a strip of yellow caution tape along the edge of one carpet. Bemused, she let Donnie lead her to the edge of the tape.

"Okay," he said. "The first thing I need you to do is jump as far as you possibly can."

" _This_  is the exercise?"

He grinned at her, and there was something a little mad scientist in it. "This is just the beginning." His expression relaxed a little as a look of apprehension stole across her face. "Trust me. We all did this, and Splinter agrees that it'll help your training."

Still skeptical, April did as he asked, gathering all of her strength and jumping as far as she could. As soon as she landed, Donnie was there with a second piece of caution tape. He laid it out about a foot farther than where she had landed.

"Now," he said. "Before I tell you the rules, you have to promise to follow them no matter what."

"I promise," she said.

He held up a finger. "This is a ninja promise. You have to keep it. Otherwise I'll tell Raph."

"Yes, jeez," she said. "Ninja promise."

"Right," he said. "The rules of this exercise are simple—"

Mikey burst into the room. "Did you get to the rules yet?"

Donnie cast him a weary glance, but ignored him. "Every time you see two yellow lines like this, you have to jump from the far side of one to the far side of the other. Each time. Every time. And if you don't make it, you have to keep trying until you do."

"That's it?" she said. "That's going to fix this thing?"

"Oh, no," said Donnie. "This is just an exercise."

"But—"

A shrill  _ping_  sounded from the kitchen, and Mikey leaped forward, seizing her shoulders. "I made you  _waffles_!" Before she could blink, he was gone.

Donnie followed at a slower pace, pausing at the door to the dojo. "What he means is, you can come have breakfast as soon as you make the jump." Then he left, leaving her staring after him with her mouth hanging open.

She looked at the two pieces of tape, deliberately placed farther apart than she could jump. She could lie about it, and say that she'd done it. But she'd promised. And like it or not, they were rubbing off on her. April bumped her head against the door and sighed.  _Stupid ninjas._

Fifteen minutes later, April stomped out of the dojo and dropped onto a kitchen stool next to the others. Mikey leaped up and brought her a plate, watching eagerly as she ate. There was enough sugar in the waffles to make her teeth hurt, but she wasn't about to hurt his feelings by refusing them. Donnie watched her the entire time, his fingers steepled like a bad spy movie villain, clearly getting way too in to whatever role he was playing. But it was Leo and Raph, who kept ducking behind each other to try to hide the fact that they couldn't stop snickering, that told her she might have just gotten herself in over her head.

* * *

April dragged herself over the threshold of the apartment, so tired she could barely see straight. The eggs her aunt had asked her to pick up were in her hand, and it was a wonder she hadn't dropped them. April stumbled to the fridge, stuck them inside, and headed toward her bedroom, fully intending to spend her Sunday napping to make up for the night before. But as she reached the hall, she stopped dead.

Yellow chalk lines spread across the floor, separating her from her bedroom.

"When—" she sputtered. "How—  _Donnie!"_

It was broad daylight. No answer was forthcoming. She leaned against the wall, staring in disbelief.

_You promised._

Gritting her teeth, she gave herself a running start. She needed to get this one over with fast if she was going to wash the chalk off the floor before her aunt woke up.

* * *

April hurried out the door on Monday morning and nearly fell down the stairs. A broad chalk line waited for her at the bottom of the steps and its partner lay several feet away, just a little farther apart than the last ones.

By the time she actually made it to school, the first bell had already rung.

* * *

Yellow lines began cropping up all over the city, never where they should be, always in her path. Her annoyance was growing daily, but the guys never said anything about it when she confronted them. Not that she had the chance often; Splinter had them training pretty hard. She barely got to spend five minutes with them when she went for her own training.

She waited for a light to turn green on her way home, her mind only half on where she was going. As the light turned, she stepped forward, only to be brought up short by a wooden shaft that appeared out of nowhere right in front of her face. Fighting to keep the inevitable heart attack at bay, she grabbed the arrow and yanked on it; the suction cup that held it to the lamp post next to her gave way with a pop. Searching the rooftops, she finally caught sight of the shadow on the building opposite the street. A passing truck illuminated just the slightest hint of blue hanging over the shadow's shoulder.

Being Leo, of course he knew she had spotted him. Gesturing with the bow, he indicated the crosswalk in front of her. April looked down and swallowed a curse.

The lines marking the crosswalk were no longer white, but a vivid yellow.

Her incensed brain conjuring up a few choice words for the brothers when next she saw them, she vaulted the lines, barely avoiding getting hit by a passing taxi. As the cabbie's shout of "Crazy girl!" chased her into the night, she seriously began to doubt her chances of surviving this thing.

* * *

This time the lines ran from directly in front of her doorstep to the bottom of the front stairs. She fell three times before she got it. She began to wonder if Donnie was  _trying_  to break her neck.

* * *

"Can't you do anything about this?"

Kneeling across from her, Splinter raised a thoughtful hand to his beard. "I can." Her sigh of relief was forestalled however, by his next words. "But I won't."

"What?" April exclaimed, her hands falling by her sides. "Why not?"

"Because I think it's a good idea," he said. "For you and for them."

She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"No, but you will." Splinter folded his hands in his lap with a look of smug satisfaction. "That is one of the things I like about you."

April dug her hands into her hair in frustration. "And you seriously put the guys through this?"

"I was raising four boys on my own," he said. "I had to find some way to keep myself entertained." As she stared at him incredulously, he chuckled a little. "It didn't hurt that Michelangelo was the first to complete the exercise. It was much easier with his help. He is very creative, you know."

She buried her face in her hands. "I am so dead."

* * *

Skipping the lines was becoming so ingrained after the first week that she was barely paying attention as she leapfrogged her way across the park, until she vaulted the fifth pair of lines and found herself sprawled in the freezing dregs of a fountain.

* * *

April stormed into Donnie's lab, still dripping with water and seething with fury. "Did you recruit  _Mikey_  into this?"

Donnie spun around in his chair. He had Spike in his lap, and stroked the little turtle as he regarded her with a sinister grin. "Why April, whatever would make you think that?"

The scene was ruined a second later when Raph burst into the room, searching frantically until his gaze fell on Donnie. " _Hey!_ "

"Um," Donnie said in a much more normal voice, looking panicked. "I can explain—"

Raph grabbed Spike out of Donnie's lap and thrust him at April, who took him reflexively. "Explain it to my fist!"

As April watched Raph chase a protesting Donnie out of the lab, she was almost bowled over as Mikey landed on her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders from behind. "Just wait 'till you see what we've got planned for tomorrow!" he squealed. Dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, he let her go and bolted out of the lab.

April looked down at Spike. "Help?"

Spike took one look at her face and drew his head as far into his shell as it would go.

* * *

Her training with Splinter was much harder with the additional aches and bruises, and she was starting to cringe reflexively whenever anyone mentioned 'two lines,' which made math class interesting, to say the least. As she left the dojo, vowing that she would never make a ninja promise again, someone cleared his throat loudly. She looked over at Raph, and he gestured from his seat in the beanbag chair toward the far end of the pit.

April groaned. To clear these lines, she'd have to vault the entire bench. Dropping her stuff and muttering under her breath, she took a running start, leaped down into the pit, and raced across it. She hit the ground hard before the first line, launching herself over the bench, and had a moment of delighted shock as she actually cleared both the bench and the second line. Then her foot hit the nearly-invisible trip wire strung across the other side, and she barely had time to register the balloon flying at her face before she found herself drenched again.

As she pulled her wet bangs out of her eyes, she was met by a gale of uncontrollable laughter. Mikey toppled from his hiding place behind the pillar. "Oh, man, April, that was  _awesome_!"

"Mikey..." the sound that ripped its way out of April surprised even her. Mikey froze, his wide eyes taking in the look on her face, and with a breathless "yeep!", he hightailed it across the room. April pelted after him, and though she stood absolutely no chance of catching him, he led her a good chase. She had to admit that as she chased him around the lair, with Raph yelling encouragement from the pit, she actually managed to forget for a few moments why she was so angry. Until her foot slipped in the puddle from the balloon, and she remembered all over again.

* * *

April turned the page on her problem set with more force than was strictly necessary. "Why are all of these questions about bailing hay?"

Donnie looked up from his laptop. "Your physics problems are about farming?"

"Yeah," she said, frowning at them. "I guess they wanted a theme. I've got them all except this one; I keep getting a negative number, and I know that's not right."

He leaned over from his seat next to her and peered over her shoulder. "Oh, I see the problem. It's the diagram. They've swapped the labels on the base and the hypotenuse."

She looked back at the problem set, and smacked her hand against her head. "Oh,  _duh._ How did I miss that?" A few scribbles fixed the answer, and she closed her book with a sigh. "Maybe 'two lines' is starting to divert necessary energy from my brain."

The uncomfortable awkwardness that flooded Donnie's expression filled her with foreboding. "Um...maybe you shouldn't look behind you then."

Her head whipped around, and took in the dozen lines stretching across the lair that she  _knew_  hadn't been there five minutes earlier. She turned back, mouth already open, but Donnie and his laptop were both nowhere to be seen.

" _Donnie!_ "

* * *

April leaned against a brick wall, staring at the lines ahead of her. The yellow chalk mocked her, daring her to walk away and break her promise. The only way she could make this jump is if she landed on the knee-height, six-inch-wide retaining wall on the other side.

The fact that someone had helpfully piled old pillows on either side of the wall did little to reassure her. She knew she'd be walking away from this one with bruises.

* * *

She was held back after the final bell for a conference with her science teacher. While he'd been understanding about the dip in what were normally strong science marks that had happened after her father had disappeared, he had some questions about the equally sudden upswing lately, and the page that had apparently been crammed into her essay on Nicolai Tesla, which had been written in an entirely different voice than the rest of the essay. She'd explained that her grades were due to the coaching of a somewhat overenthusiastic tutor, and that she'd known nothing about the final page of the essay, which she also attributed to him. She managed to escape after promising to fire her tutor if he ever tampered with her homework again, and slipped out the door, grinning.

Her grin vanished as she saw the hallway stretching out endlessly in front of her, sectioned off by lines of wet yellow paint running down one wall, across the floor, and up the lockers on the other side.

To one side of the hall, three custodians stood in impassioned conversation with the principal, who was pointing at the painted lines and yelling things that he probably shouldn't have said in front of a student.

"If you didn't want the lines, why did you send me an e-mail telling me to do it?" the head custodian shouted back.

"I never sent you an e-mail!"

The custodian pulled out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket, whipped it open, and jabbed his finger at it. " _That's_ your e-mail address, ain't it?"

The principal stared at it, looking like someone had smacked him with a brick. One of the other custodians threw up her hands in disgust. "You even sent  _measurements_."

"And angles," added the third. "I haven't had to use a protractor in ten years."

"I'm going to kill him," April whispered. Shifting her books to get a better hold, she took a running start. If she ended up getting paint on her clothes, she was making him buy her new ones. She didn't care if that meant he'd have to go without pizza for a month.

* * *

The sweep of the polishing cloth against his katana was a welcome moment of quiet in the middle of a day that had been full of anger and frustration. Leo sighed. They'd been training hard since their defeat at the Shedder's hands, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

A crash at the entry to the lair broke into his thoughts and Leo looked up, his eyes widening in astonishment at the sight of April, radiating fury, standing in front of him covered in whipped cream and small coloured feathers.

"I," she announced loudly, "am going to _kill_  your brothers."

He looked at her for another minute before returning his attention to his katana. "Just try not to make a mess."

As April departed in search of Donnie and Mikey, Raph looked at Leo over the top of his comic. "Seriously?"

"Yep," said Leo.

"You're not gonna tell her that was your idea?"

He swept the cloth along the blade. "Nope."

Raph's surprise turned to a grin before he returned to his comic. "You know, Chief, there may be hope for you yet."

Smiling to himself, Leo rose to return his katana to the dojo, bowing to Splinter as he passed by the spot where his  _sensei_  knelt beneath the tree. As Splinter took in the expression on Leo's face, he chuckled and closed his eyes with an unmistakable air of satisfaction. Humming the  _Space Heroes_  theme, Leo left to watch the action as April's outraged voice rang through the lair.

* * *

Nearly two weeks from the night that April's nightmare had ripped them all from sleep, Donnie stood with Leo on a rooftop, watching the red-haired figure far below navigating the labyrinth of yellow PVC piping that had spilled from an overturned public works truck.

Leo looked at him with a worried expression. "You didn't—"

"No, this one was a happy coincidence." Donnie watched her carefully, judging distances in his head and running some quick calculations. He was pretty certain. But for something this important, with such potential consequences, it was one time he wasn't willing to rely solely on the numbers. He looked at Leo. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Leo put a hand on the edge of the rooftop and grinned. "I'm thinking if you drag this out much longer, she's never going to speak to any of us again."

"Leo," Donnie protested.

Leo put a hand on Donnie's shell. "You did good, Donnie. This one's your call."

Donatello looked back at April and nodded. "Tonight."

* * *

April peered around the corner. Her street looked clear, but that wasn't saying much these days. Drawing a deep breath, she bolted toward her front door, taking the stairs at a leap even though there weren't any lines on the walk, just so that she could get in the door faster. She jammed her key into the lock and slammed the door closed behind her, pressing her back against it as she panted.

So far, so good. No lines.

She took the stairs two at a time, growing increasingly concerned as her path remained clear. She looked cautiously down the hall, but there were no lines there, either. Her nervousness grew as she headed toward her bedroom door, to the point at which she was actually annoyed when she opened the door and found her room empty. No lines. Crossing to her window, she pulled it open and hoisted herself up onto the fire escape.

Also empty.

She sank down on the metal grille, wondering why the best word she could come up with to describe how she was feeling was 'disappointed.'

"Hey."

She didn't know if it was exhaustion or just the fact that she was getting used to hanging out with ninjas, but she didn't even jump when the voice drifted from the darkness above her. She glanced up at Donnie, who sat on the edge of the roof with his feet dangling, looking at her as though unsure of his welcome.

Fair enough.  _She_ was unsure of his welcome. But almost as soon as the thought was out, she dismissed it. As annoyed as she was with him over what he'd put her through over the last two weeks, she was still happy to see him. The few moments she'd managed to grab with him and the others in between her training, their training, and 'two lines,' weren't nearly enough.

"Hey," she said, finally. She turned, resting her back against the rail. "No fresh torment for me tonight?"

"Nope." He smiled at her. "There's something we need to do, though."

He rose to his feet and held out his hand, still smiling. April's breath caught a little, and she wondered if he'd ever be able to do that without sending her into a series of flashbacks. Pushing herself up, she climbed the ladder and reached for him, letting him pull her to the roof.

As soon as she was up, he reached down and scooped her off her feet, and before she quite knew what was happening, he was running for the edge of the roof. She buried her head against his shoulder, squeezing her eyes closed so that she couldn't see the drop as he leaped off the edge.

A few minutes later, she found herself standing on a strange rooftop. There was a wooden box in the middle of the roof, and she watched Donnie lay a strip of caution tape along the edge. Then he took a few steps, using his bō to help him measure, and laid a second strip of tape some distance away from the box. He stepped back, nodding in satisfaction.

April wrapped her arms around herself. "Please tell me this is the end of the exercise."

"Think of this as the final exam," he said, sheathing his bō. "You need to make this one five times in a row."

"That's it?"

He leaned back against the edge of the roof. "That's it."

Two weeks ago, it would have been impossible. This time, she was on the box and over the gap in seconds. Five times she ran at it, and five times she cleared the distance with feet to spare. Panting, she planted her hands on her hips and raised a brow at him. "Well?"

"Perfect," he said. Before she could move, he had launched himself off the edge of the roof and stood looking at her from the next building over. "Just one final jump and you're done!"

Comprehension dawned, and cold horror filled the pit of her stomach. "You're not serious!" She clenched her fists. "Donatello! Get back here!"

"Not a chance!"

"I am going to  _kill_ you!"

"You'll have to reach me first!"

"I can't jump that!"

"It's the only way off that building, April!"

She ran to the edge and looked down, but she already knew what she'd see. No fire escape. No handholds. Nothing that would get her off the top of the building. As she looked down, the ground seemed to move even farther away, and she sank to her knees. Only then did she realize that the box was the exact same height as the ledge surrounding the roof.

Understanding slammed into her, and left her breathless.

"April."

She looked up, and found him mirroring her pose on the other building, his arms folded on the ledge, his chin resting on them. His voice was quiet, but it carried. Her fear had made the distance between them a yawning chasm, but this was New York; nobody had space to themselves. It wasn't that far. It was close enough that she could see the worry and anxiety in his eyes.

"Donnie..." she began, but the words caught in her throat.

"I know," he said. "But the fear is the only thing holding you back now. You can do this April. I  _know_  you can." He tilted his head and grinned. "I've done the math."

"I can't argue with math," she said, hating the tremor in her voice. She looked away, ashamed.

"Not  _my_  math, anyway." He rose to his feet and planted his hands on the ledge. The worry was gone from his face; only eagerness and encouragement remained. "Come on, April. Think logically. Would I ever let you fall?"

She raised her gaze to meet his, brown eyes locking with blue, and just like that, the tremors were gone. She knew her answer.

This was Donnie. There wasn't even a question.

Clenching her fists, she backed away. Donnie's eyes went wide as he realized her intent and he mirrored her again, stepping away from his ledge. April closed her eyes and took the deepest breath she could. Then, opening her eyes, she raced toward the edge.

Her foot struck the ledge, and with all the power she possessed, she launched herself into space.

She was falling. The alley yawned beneath her, stretching down to eternity as time slowed to a crawl. But as she started to come down, a part of her realized why the brothers spent so much time up here. For the briefest fraction of a moment, she understood what meant to be truly free.

Then, there was hard gravel beneath her feet. She staggered, her momentum carrying her forward for several uncontrollable steps before she smacked straight into Donnie's chest. His hands caught her around her waist, steadying her before she could fall.

Breathless, still not quite understanding what had happened, she looked up into his face. He was beaming at her. "April! You did it!"

She backed up and looked around, and her eyes went wide. She was on the other roof.

A hysterical laugh burst from her, and she looked down at herself. "I did it! I actually did it!" She couldn't control her laughter any longer, and as it spread to him too, she launched herself at him. He caught her as her arms went around his neck, the force of her leap spinning them in a circle, and when they came to a stop again, her feet still dangled a foot from the ground. All the milestones in her life - getting her braces off, getting her first story published in the school paper, coming in first in her science class and making her dad proud – none of them even came close to making her feel like this. And if a few tears slipped out through the laughter as she pressed her face against Donnie's shoulder, they could both pretend that they hadn't noticed.

April stopped laughing abruptly. "Wait a second." She pushed against him until he set her down, and as soon as she was free, she smacked him on the arm.

"Ow!" He rubbed his arm, his eyes wide. "What was that for?"

"You were all the way over here!" She gestured at the distance between them and the ledge. "How were you supposed to catch me if I didn't make it?"

He grinned at her and walked over to the edge of the roof. As she joined him, he leaned over and waved. "Thanks, Leo!"

A shadow detached itself from the fire escape below them and waved back. "Nice work, April!"

Two more shadows emerged out of the darkness of the alley below. "Can we go get pizza now?" asked one shadow, who was promptly smacked on the back of the head by the other.

April leaned back from the ledge and looked up at Donnie. He shrugged sheepishly. "Like I was going to risk it."

April's throat tightened as something too big for words swept through her. She had called people her friends before, but standing here, on this roof, in this moment, she realized how far off the mark she had been. Everything that Donnie and his brothers had done over the past two weeks...

She thought she had understood what a 'best friend' was. Thought she was doing just fine without one.

She had been so very wrong.

"Well," she said at last. "I think after all this, you owe me a pizza at the very least."

"Yeah!" came an excited voice from below, followed by, "Ow!"

Donnie planted a hand on the edge of the roof, looking at her expectantly. She stepped up and placed her hand beside his. Following his lead, she vaulted over to the first level of the fire escape below them.

He had landed on the rail, and as he reached down to help her climb up next to him, she heard the laughter of the brothers below her, arguing good-naturedly about something. And something else clicked into place.

_It's a good idea. For you and for them._

Two weeks ago, it had seemed like the turtles had no room left in them for laughter. The defeat that hung about them was so palpable, it had hurt. But as she thought about Mikey's responses to her predicaments, Raph's shouted encouragement...even Leo, who she now suspected had had more of a hand in things than she'd thought, given the look on his face as he stared up at her...

Understanding shook her, and she wobbled a little. Donnie, still crouched next to her, put a hand up to steady her, raising a brow in concern.

_Donnie fixes things. That's what he does._

"Thank you," she whispered, and kissed the top of his head.

She wasn't prepared for him to jerk as though she'd struck him. With a strangled squeak, his face as red as she had ever seen it, his foot went out from under him and he toppled forward. April winced as he struck three levels of fire escape below them, the crack from his shell against the rails sounding like thunder in the alley, before he came to a rest in a pile of old boxes below.

Raph folded his arms, looking down at his brother with a smirk. "Smooth," he said.

"And a 6.0 from the Russian judge!" Mikey pumped his fist in the air.

Mortified, April looked at Leo on the level below her. He shook his head, but his expression was faintly amused as he dropped to the ground and turned his face up to her. "Come on," he said, and held out his arms.

"After all that? Aren't you going to make me do it myself?"

"Ordinarily, yeah, but this one's a freebie. You earned it." He grinned at her.

Smiling so hard it hurt, April leaned forward and let go. And as she tumbled through the air, the wind whistling past her, she was astonished to find that the fear was gone. Not lurking, or suppressed, as it usually was when she was waiting for one of them to catch her.

Gone.

And then Leo had her, and there was pride on his face as he set her on her feet. Turning, she watched Raph and Mikey haul a dazed but perfectly intact Donnie out of the boxes. She would be more worried, but for the giddy grin still plastered across his face.

There would be more challenges in store for them, of that she was sure. The Shredder and the Kraang were still very real threats. But as Leo slung an affectionate arm around her shoulders and they made their way back to the sewers, Donnie leaning heavily on the other two, she believed,  _truly_ believed that they would overcome them. When this family banded together, there was nothing they couldn't do.

After all, they had taken a broken, frightened girl, and hadn't just stopped at making her whole.

Instead, they taught her to fly.

* * *

"[Victorious](http://www.deviantart.com/art/Victorious-Request-402713220)" by stormynight108

"[Falling](http://yipyop.tumblr.com/post/55894928250/donatello-caught-her-twice-that-night-so-why-did)" by yipyop

"[Learning to Fly](http://demonic-banshee-creates.tumblr.com/post/46721937610/learning-to-fly-by-deviltrish-my-tribute-to)" by deviltrish

"[...Help?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj5ooTZYq7w)" by Skyecrystal

"[Jump](http://skyecrystal.tumblr.com/post/48929617324/jump-by-xskyecrystalx-practicing-again)" by skyecrystal

"[Falling](http://snufflin.deviantart.com/art/Falling-353676908)" by snuffes


	13. Please Don't Stop the Music (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April and Mikey take some time to indulge in teenage things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the things I really like about aging all of them down to actual teenagers and having April closer in age to the boys is that they can alternate the older/younger sibling roles depending on the situation.
> 
> This one takes place a little bit earlier than the last few, most likely just before "Monkey Brains."

 

**Please Don't Stop the Music**

* * *

 

April had spent time running from alien robots, flesh-melting sewer creatures, and giant explosions in the months since she'd lost her dad, but nothing had spurred her on quite like this latest conversation with her aunt. She raced down the hallway, feeling like a coward, but she didn't stop until she was safe on the other side of her door, cowering in her darkened bedroom.

Letting out a huff of frustration, she leaned against the door and let the back of her head fall against it. She knew her aunt cared and all, it was just—

"Hey, is this Titian?"

April let out a shriek as the voice drifted out of the dark from the vicinity of her closet, grabbing the nearest thing to hand and flinging it before she had time to register that the voice had sounded an awful lot like Mikey.

Without even looking, the shadow in her closet reached out a hand and intercepted what turned out to be her phone. Setting aside the toy he was inspecting, he looked at what he'd caught. "Who're you gonna call?"

April hit the lights and stalked over to him, snatching her phone back. "Someone to teach you guys how to knock. Seriously. It's not that hard!"

His eyes going wide as he took in the expression on her face, he meekly reached out and knocked three times on the closet doorframe.

April sighed and placed a hand on her head. "That's not—never mind." She looked around, but as far as she could tell, Mikey was alone. Granted, given the company she usually kept, that was never a certainty. "Where is everybody?"

"I dunno." He wandered to the shelves on the wall. "Leo's talking to Splinter, Raph got mad at me because I wanted to see how many times I could bounce a ball off his shell without dropping it, and Donnie's doing some boring stuff that makes him yell at me if I try to talk to him." He poked curiously at an ornament – one of her aunt's leftovers, since April was only slowly taking over the room and making it her own – sending April diving for it as he saw something that interested him more and left it wobbling only half on the shelf.

"And you decided to come see me?"

He poked at a black ball on her desk, setting it wobbling on its base. "Your bowling ball has holes in it."

"It's a planetarium," she said, putting it right before it could fall. "Dad used to use it to teach me about the stars, because most of the time you can't see them from—"

He was already across the room, reaching for her laptop. She grabbed his hand, turned him to face her, and pointed firmly at the bed.

"Sit. Down."

He was good enough at reading her by now to know not to argue with that tone of voice. He parked himself cross-legged on her bed, hands between his knees, looking up at her with one of the most hangdog expressions she had ever seen.

Feeling like a complete tool, April pulled out the chair from her desk and sat down. "So is there a particular reason you came to see me, or are you just bored?"

"I started out because I was bored," he said, "but then I remembered that Donnie said your school was having a dance tonight—"

"Wait," April interrupted. "How did he know that?"

"He reads your school's website a lot."

April covered her eyes. "Of course he does."

"Anyway," Mikey said, "I wanted to see if you needed help getting ready."

Fighting back a laugh, April shook her head. "Have you been talking to my aunt?"

"Noooo..." he said, his voice thick with confusion.

"Never mind," said April, and leaned back against the chair. "Anyway, as much as my aunt is 'concerned about my nocturnal behaviours' and hoping I'll do something 'normal for someone of my age,' I'm not going to the dance."

He came half-off the bed, distraught. "Why not?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because they're  _lame_ , Mikey. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing, and that includes those stupid exercises Splinter makes me do that make it so I can't walk in the morning."

"But April, it's a  _school dance_."

She glanced over at her laptop as an incoming message beep came in –  _Donnie, who else?_  "If you think it's so great, you go," she said, moving to answer it.

"…I can't."

She'd been teasing, of course. They teased each other all the time, now. But those words were so small, so quiet, so... _not_  Mikey, that she forgot what she was about to do and turned back around to face him. He remained in the middle of her bed, pulled into himself, looking anywhere but at her. And she could have kicked herself, because he'd been such a large part of making her life seem  _normal_  over the past few months, sometimes she completely forgot that his life was anything but.

And she didn't even need to ask why he felt that this stupid dance was so important. How many movies, TV series, even cartoons featured the school dance as the be-all and end-all of high school life? They made dances out to be some kind of magical place where dreams were made and hearts broken. They never looked anything like the dances at her school, but that's all he ever would have seen.

She left the chair and walked over to him, kneeling next to the bed. "If I do this thing," she said, "you are so gonna owe me."

His head whipped round to face her, hope blossoming in his eyes. "You're going?"

"Only if you figure out what I'm supposed to wear," she said. "I'm really bad at picking out anything that's not  _this_." She gestured down at herself.

Mikey's face blossomed into a grin that raised the temperature in the room by several degrees, and he was off the bed in ninja-time, digging through her closet while providing a running commentary. She couldn't help smiling as she watched him, pausing only to open her messenger and type:  ** _Something important came up. Tell you later._**  She  _really_  didn't want to go, but if such a small thing was going to make Mikey  _this_  happy, there was nothing that was going to keep her away.

Though her resolved flagged a little when he turned on her and proclaimed, "we have  _got_  to do something about that hair."

* * *

Leo and Raph looked up from their game as Mikey returned from wherever he'd been. Headphones firmly in place, Mikey leaned over as he danced past them. "Who's the expert on being awesome?" He jerked his thumb toward himself. "This guy!" Without waiting for a response, he vaulted into the pit and sprawled across the beanbag chair, his toes continuing to tap, eyes closed, his attention firmly in what the family had come to know only as 'Mikey-space.'

They exchanged a look with each other, and with Donnie, who had leaned out of his lab to watch.

"What do you think that's about?" Leo asked.

Raph shuddered. "I don't even want to know."

Donnie stepped out of his lab and pulled the goggles he was wearing off his head. "You may as well come check this out. I could use some feedback."

As they headed toward the lab, Leo glanced over his shoulder. "Should we bring him?"

Donnie gave Leo a questioning look. "Do you really think we're going to get him back anytime soon?"

Leo looked at Mikey, whose eyes were closed in blissful solitude, and shrugged. "You're probably right."

They headed together to Donnie's lab, leaving their smallest brother to his dreaming.

* * *

April squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temple as the bass poured through her loud enough to rattle her teeth. They had it cranked so high, she couldn't hear anything else about the music. They could very well have been playing the same song for the last half-hour and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.

Mikey had taken a while to settle on her outfit of jeans, boots, and a shiny turquoise sleeveless blouse that her aunt had bought for her last Christmas. He had also insisted that she take down her hair and rinse it until the curl came out, and then pinned up the mess on the side of her head, which told her more than a little about the decade his reference material had come from. After the preparations he made her do, she had arrived fashionably late - not that anyone noticed.

The bubble of invisibility that had developed around her just after her dad had been taken had originally been a product of nobody being able to figure out how to say "sorry your dad got abducted and you're so messed up you can't remember who took him or why and had to resort to making up freaky stories about it," but over the months, it had just become habit for everyone.

Making her way into the darkened gym, she had seen exactly what she expected; a few of the more popular kids in the middle of the floor, either swaying or sort of jumping up and down depending on the speed of the music, and most of the rest of the students gathered against the walls, both hoping for and fearing the attention of the others. Strobe lights and sweeping coloured gels streaked through the air in a halfhearted attempt to make the whole thing seem cooler, and the air was thick with intermittent bursts from a smoke machine that almost worked.

In a word:  _lame_.

"Oh, Mikey, you owe me so big," she muttered.

It was then that something – maybe intuition, maybe her ninja training finally starting to work – focused her attention on the far side of the floor. One of the students, Autumn, was being pushed forward by a group of her friends as the music changed to something with some kind of Native American music sampled into it. April knew from some of the student profiles she'd written for the yearbook, back before her extracurriculars had been cancelled out of "compassionate leave," that Autumn was at least partly Oneida, and she'd trained in traditional dancing when she was younger. As April watched and Autumn's friends cheered her on, Autumn began to move, her actions the only thing April had seen that night that could even come close to actually being called 'dancing.'

Which was when Josh and a couple of his friends took notice. As April watched, a rage building within her fit to make Raph proud, one of Josh's friends began to mock Autumn using a stereotype worthy of old cowboy movies. Tears welled in Autumn's eyes and she fled the gym, her friends staring helplessly after her. Nearly falling over themselves with laughter, the boys ran in pursuit.

In the darkness of the gym, they failed to notice the field hockey stick thrust into their path. As Josh went down and his friends piled on top of him, April watched, hidden in the shadows, to make sure they weren't getting up any time soon. Satisfied, she slipped from the gym to the chorus of Josh wailing about his bleeding nose.

 _I am so done with this._  Twirling the field hockey stick, April marched down the hall. She wasn't sure that stealing sports equipment from the gym was quite what Splinter had in mind when he started teaching her about getting around locked doors, but the boys, at least, would understand.

April rounded a corner, and froze. A group of girls sat on the floor by the lockers, their conversation stilling as they caught sight of her. That was nothing new – she was used to conversations ending when she entered a room. But she really didn't like the way the others were staring at her. Suddenly extremely uncomfortable, she set the stick down and leaned it against a locker, fixing her gaze forward and walking past the group as fast as she could without running, trying to ignore how one of them pointed at her and whispered to someone in the middle of the flock.

She was almost free when it happened. Quietly, from behind her, she heard, "Thanks, April."

Eyes wide with shock, April looked over her shoulder. The group had parted. The girl in the middle was Autumn. Her face was streaked with tears, but she offered April a tentative smile. Despite herself, April found herself smiling back.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Not long afterward, she found herself wondering exactly when the lair had come to feel more like home than her aunt's house or a building filled with her peers, but as she spotted the yellow-masked turtle sprawled across a bench, utterly absorbed in the game on his Tphone, the sense of homecoming that hit her was so strong, it almost hurt.

As quietly as she was able, she made her way over to the pit, setting down the carpet bag she'd borrowed from her aunt; after her backpack had been eaten by ratroaches, April had replaced it with a Wholester, figuring it was better for her balance on a mission and less likely to be grabbed by errant mutants, but she'd needed something bigger for this particular task.

Even off in his own little world, Mikey was still a ninja, and that small sound was enough to alert him to her presence. He froze when he saw that it was her and not one of his brothers, and the Tphone slid, forgotten, to the bench next to him as betrayal spread across his face. "You didn't go."

"Oh, I went," April said, digging into her bag and pulling out the large black sphere dotted with holes and the base it sat on, locking the two together. She flipped a couple of switches, and the sphere began to rotate slowly as the holes across it filled with hundreds of tiny lights. "And I was right, it was totally lame." Diving back into the bag, she pulled out her speaker dock. Plugging her phone in, she cued up what she was looking for before setting it down next to the planetarium. "The problem was, I just couldn't have any fun when the coolest guy I know wasn't even there."

Music flooded the lair as Mikey stared at her in complete incomprehension. Sighing, April walked over to the fuse box on the wall and read over the labels. Quickly, she found the one that proclaimed, in Donnie's distinctively capitalized handwriting,  **CENTRAL LAIR: MAIN OVERHEAD**.

April flipped the breaker and the lights overhead went out. With the TV off and only the side lights providing illumination, the planetarium threw a blanket of rotating stars across the room. Mikey was still staring, something new creeping into his expression now.

 _Come on, Mikey, work with me here_.

Crossing back to the pit, still dressed in the clothes Mikey had picked out for her, April swallowed her pride and started to dance. But it wasn't enough. This wasn't her school dance. There was no-one watching her. No-one waiting to pass judgment. There was only Mikey, and he didn't have that kind of cruelty in him.

Throwing caution to the wind, April let go of all restraint, and though she knew she looked like an utter lunatic, she found she didn't care. With no pressure, free to just go where the music took her, dancing actually felt…fun. And as she turned and saw the flummoxed look of comprehension on Mikey's face, it was suddenly all worth it. Grinning, she leaped down into the pit.

* * *

Mikey watched April jump down into the pit with him, still not quite able to believe what was happening.

_There's a dance at my house._

_There's a DANCE at my house._

_There's a DANCE at my HOUSE._

Unable to contain himself any longer, he launched himself forward. He'd been hoping to hear about the dance from April, maybe see pictures she'd taken, but  _this?_  This was a million times better. This was better than video games. This was better than  _pizza_. Well, maybe not pizza… But maybe.

He looked over at April, dancing next to him. Something didn't feel quite right. It was fun and all, but it was like they were two different people at two different dances. So, feeling the right groove in the music, he bumped her with his hip. She staggered –  _right, shell is hard_  – but a grin broke out across her face.

That was better. But still not enough. He frowned, thinking hard. There needed to be more. Taking his cue from the music again, he reached out and snagged her wrist, yanking on it hard enough to send her spinning across his chest, grabbing her around the waist to stop her from falling on the other side. She hung from his grip, breathless and startled, but she was still smiling.

_Getting there…_

He spun her back, her squeak of surprise complementing the music. But it still wasn't enough. She'd been through so much with them over the past few months, and she'd been sad way too often. She didn't deserve that.

Mikey had always considered himself lucky. For as long as he could remember, movies and TV had made it very clear that girls were the enemy. He felt that he'd dodged a bullet, growing up with three completely awesome brothers, with no annoying sister to get in the way. He'd never once, in his entire life, considered that he might be missing out on something.

Until now.

She'd brought a  _dance_  to his  _house_. Right now, all he wanted was to make it so she'd never be sad again.

_Still not enough…_

Grabbing April around the waist, he lifted her into the air, spinning in a circle as he held her over his head. She shrieked, grabbing at his arms, but there was laughter too, and as he continued to spin, her laughter grew, joining with his, until it became the greatest thing he had ever heard.  _This_  is how she deserved to feel all the time.

He let go, letting her fall, but only far enough that he could catch her around the waist, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he continued to spin. Still laughing, April spread her arms, like she was flying, and the look on her face was pure joy.

_There._

With a sigh of contentment, he abandoned himself to the music.

* * *

Arms folded, Leo leaned one shoulder against the doorway of Donnie's lab, watching the scene unfold below him. Raph came to stand next to him, resting his elbow on Leo's shoulder as Mikey and April threw themselves across their makeshift dance floor with gleeful abandon.

Raph gave a small laugh. "She's good people."

"Yeah," said Leo. "She really is."

"I call a slow dance!"

Raph reached out to snag the green streak that attempted to race past them. "Whoa, slow down there, Romeo." His hand locked on Donnie's shell, bringing their brother up short.

Donnie, bent over backward nearly double as his feet had kept going even after Raph had anchored the back of his neck, looked desperately back at Raph. "But—but—" He gestured at the dance floor, where Mikey had scooped April off her feet and was twirling her around again.

"I get it, Donnie," Raph said, and looked back at the dancers. "But this one? This one's not your moment."

Donatello looked back at them, and sighed in defeat. He dropped down to the floor and wrapped his arms around his knees, sinking his head down on them. Raph let go of his shell and patted him on the head.

They stayed that way until the song changed to something even faster, and Mikey, who'd given all signs of being completely oblivious to anything outside of his dance floor, suddenly called out, "Are you losers just going to stand there all night, or what?"

Donnie's head snapped up to look at Raph, and with a roll of his eyes, Raph gestured toward the dance floor. Donnie was gone in a heartbeat. Leo looked at Raph, a brow raised, and Raph stepped back, crossing his arms.

"No. Way."

"Come on, when do we ever get to do this?"

"Forget it."

"Oh, come on," April called from the pit. "You can't hate fun all the time."

"I do not hate fun!" Raph called back. "And I thought dances were lame."

"School dances  _are._ If they were this much fun, I'd actually go to them!"

Mikey danced his way over to them, leaning in close. "You just don't want to admit that I'm better than you at something."

"I admit that all the time," Raph growled. "You're way better than me at being an idiot."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "With sweet moves like mine, I'd be scared of me too." Grinning, he skipped back to the dance floor.

"I am  _not_  scared of you!" Raph stepped away from the wall. Fists clenched, he pursued Mikey across the floor. "Get back here. I'll show you who has the better moves!"

Leo looked across the room and found his father in the shadows of the dojo, watching the scene below with a mixture of weary tolerance and gentle fondness. He raised his gaze to meet Leo's eyes, and for just a moment, they were in complete understanding. Splinter shook his head, smiling, and retreated back into the dojo. Laughing, Leo pushed himself out of the doorway and went to join the others.

Donnie had April now, and tossed her into the air as the music swelled to a high point. Before he could catch her again, Leo hip-checked him out of the way and held out his arms instead. The others had had their moment, and it was his turn to make April laugh now. Especially after what he had just seen her do with Mikey. He owed her that much.

As much as he had wanted the role of leader, he hadn't counted on how hard it would be to always have to assume the role of elder brother now, and sometimes it got to him. Sometimes, it felt like bearing the burden alone was driving him away from his brothers.

He had never anticipated that there might be another elder sibling around to help him shoulder the weight.

Tonight, he was going to do everything he could to make sure she never felt it.

* * *

 

"P[lease Don't Stop the Music](http://silveraspenriver.tumblr.com/post/46650267042/ha-finally-trying-to-show-fantasiawandering-that)" by silveraspenriver


	14. Serious Business (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Doctor Donnie gives a lecture, and Mikey discovers that April is actually pretty cool in his books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The A-plot of this one has been around in my head for a while, exploring another aspect of what happens when April gets to take on the older sister role, rather than the younger sibling she tends to be cast as when dealing with ninja stuff (as I said, I'm a huge fan of the fact they're close enough in age to alternate whether April or the turtles are acting as the older sibling, depending on the situation). It takes place just before the Mousers episode.
> 
> The B-plot is new, unexpected, and all preservedcucumbers' fault for pointing out what was in plain sight, and making me think about it. Going back after and reviewing the episodes, it does seem that when one of the turtles comes down hard on a bad guy, more often than not, it's Raph. Check out preservedcucumbers on tumblr if you haven't seen it yet (and for more general awesomeness).

 

**Serious Business (an Interlude)**

* * *

 

Leo dove, rolling quickly back to his feet as the carpet scraped across his skin. He spun back, his eyes widened, and he barely had time to bring his hands up in a cross-guard as Raph plowed into him with the force of a bulldozer, throwing Leo into the wall.

"Raph!" Leo planted his hands on his hips. "Not so hard!"

Raph grinned. "What's the matter, Leo? Can't handle some competition?" Rounding on his heel, Raph came at him again.

"No," Leo said, raising his arms to block Raph's next series of strikes. "But this move—is supposed to be—graceful—like a gazelle—" He disengaged, slipping behind his brother's headstrong charge to land a firm kick to the back of his shell. "—and you're coming on like a rampaging water buffalo."

Raph snorted. "Hey, if you can't stand the heat, you can always go spar with Mikey."

He gestured toward the other side of the dojo, where Donnie and Mikey were sparring with weapons. Mikey was in the middle of regaling Donnie with the story of some action figure he'd found on the last dump run. Donnie, looking extremely bored, was blocking all Mikey's moves with the mechanical ennui that told Leo that Donnie was on full auto-pilot; their genius brother's mind was probably far away from practice. As Mikey nattered on, Donnie responded at appropriate intervals with some kind of noncommittal noise.

"—so then I looked down, and you couldn't tell through all the muck, but I just knew, 'cause you know they only ever made ten thousand of them—"

"Uh-huh."

"—and it was! It was totally a nearly almost mint condition Captain Cadaver—"

"Hmm."

"—limited edition action figure with necromancy action—"

"Wow."

"—and so I dug around, and I even found some of the original accessories—"

"You don't say."

Leo turned back and gave Raph an exasperated look.

Raph shrugged. "Hey, don't say I didn't give you the chance." He came at Leo again, every bit as hard as the first time.

Splinter, who had been observing silently from the sidelines, rapped his staff against the floor. "Too hard, Raphael! You would do well to listen to your brother."

Laughing, Raphael ran toward the tree. "Thanks,  _Sensei_ , but if I wanted lessons in how to cuddle my opponents into submission, I'd go ask April." He leaped, kicking off the tree and driving at Leo.

His timing was off. Leo rolled out of the way, and Raph went down hard. Leo was back on his feet in an instant, but he didn't move. Raph had also regained his stance, but he was frozen, standing on the carpet not far from Donnie and Mikey, panting.

"It would serve you right if I  _did_  let you ask April that question," Splinter muttered. "We could sell tickets to the show."

Oblivious to Raph, Mikey continued to let Donnie drive him across the dojo as he babbled about his action figure. Donnie wasn't paying attention either, his eyes still unfocused, so it wasn't surprising that Mikey backed straight into Raph.

What  _was_  surprising was Raph's reaction as he rounded on his brother. " _Mikey!_  Will you watch where you're going!"

Mikey broke off abruptly, turning to Raph with wide eyes.

"Yeah...uh huh...fascinati—wait, what's going on?" Donnie said, finally realizing that Mikey had stopped talking.

Mikey's attention darted back to Donnie. "Are you kidding me?  _You weren't even listening_?" He punctuated the protest with an emphatic gesture, and end of the nunchuck in his hand swung out hard enough to jostle Raphael. Raph staggered, and Leo saw the moment his temper snapped.

"Oh, come on, Mikey, nobody cares!" Mikey cringed, taking a step back toward Donnie, but Raph wasn't finished. "It's just a stupid doll. Would you grow up, already!"

Mikey's lip quivered. "It's not a doll, it's an  _action figure_!"

"Raphael!" Splinter stepped forward. "That is  _enough._ "

"It's a kid's toy. You're teenage ninja, for crying out loud. No wonder nobody takes you seriously!"

"Oh, yeah?" Mikey shouted back, his eyes shining. "Well you're a… stupid….aaagh!" He pressed his hands over his eyes. "I can't even come up with a  _name_  for you!" Turning away, he ran from the dojo.

Donnie watched him go, his bō hanging by his side, and turned to Raph. "Wow. That was unusually harsh, even for you."

"Whatever," Raph muttered, at least having the grace to look ashamed.

Leo exchanged a look with Splinter and crossed his arms. "Hey, Raph. Come over here a minute."

Raph's gaze snapped over to him, and his eyes went wide as he saw the look on Leo's face. "Uh, no thanks. I'm good here."

Donnie, catching on, moved to stand next to Leo and Splinter. Setting his bō against the floor, he leaned on it, looking suitably unimpressed. "You wrenched it, didn't you?"

"No!" Raph said. The fact that the word ended in a squeak didn't help his argument much.

"Uh-huh." Donnie said flatly.

"Look, braniac, I'm  _fine—_ "

With a speed that only Donnie could bring to the bō, he whipped it around, driving it toward Raph's knee. Stopping just short of contact, Donnie tapped the knee with a feather touch.

Raph's face contorted, his entire body stiffening, and his eye began to twitch. "Feels fine," he spat out between clenched teeth.

Donnie looked at Leo. "He wrenched it."

"Again," said Leo.

"I did not!" Raph clenched his fists. "Look, maybe I came down a  _little_  hard, but that doesn't mean—"

His words cut off in a strangled grunt, and he collapsed to the floor. Leo, who had moved to stand behind Raph as he was busy yelling at Donnie, dusted off his hands in satisfaction.

"Well done, Leonardo," Splinter said, looking down at his unconscious son. "Your nerve block is improving. Not even any twitching this time."

"Thanks,  _Sensei._ "

Each taking an arm, Leo and Donnie heaved Raph up between them and started dragging him toward Donnie's lab. "Jeez," Donnie wheezed. "How does someone so short end up so freaking  _heavy?_ "

"It's all the bones in his thick skull," Leo grunted. Between them, they managed to muscle Raph into the lab. Donnie ducked out from under Raph's arm, leaving Leo to bear the weight, and headed into his storage room. He returned a minute later, pushing forward an old dentist's chair. Leo dumped Raph into it and helped Donnie get their brother into position. As Donnie unwrapped the problem knee, prodding at it carefully, Leo gathered some rope from Donnie's supplies and started tying Raph to the chair.

Splinter joined them just as Raph started to come around. Raph groaned, tugging at the ropes, and let his head thunk back against the headrest with an exasperated grunt. "You have got to be kidding me."

"If you'd stop being a big baby every time you get hurt, we wouldn't have to," Leo said.

"Raphael," said Splinter, "If you will not listen to me, and you will not listen to Leonardo, I think that perhaps it is time for you to listen to Donatello."

Donnie stepped forward, in front of the monitor he'd wheeled in front of Raph's chair. "Thank you  _Sensei._ "

Raph's eyes widened in horror. "No...you can't mean..."

"Now then." Donnie raised a remote, and with a press of a button, a title card bearing the words ' **PHUN WITH PHYSICS** ' appeared on the monitor. "Imagine, if you will, the observations made by Sir Isaac Newton in the late seventeenth century—"

"Not a Physics lecture!" Raph twisted in his bonds as Donnie continued unabated. " _Sensei,_ please, have mercy!"

Splinter just shook his head and left the room.

"—so when we take the dense object – that's you," Donnie pointed at a stick figure of a turtle on his current slide "—and we calculate the forces acting on you as you hit your target, we find that the total kinetic energy absorbed by your knee is equal to one half your mass, which is a lot, times the velocity with which you—"

"Leo! Leo, please! You're my brother! Don't leave me like this!"

"Sorry, Raph." Leo headed for the door. "Maybe you should listen next time. I have to go find Mikey."

"—and don't even get me  _started_  on the gravitational acceleration at Earth's surface—"

" _Nooooooo!_ "

Leo winced as he left Raph to Donnie's tender mercies and went to fetch his katana from the dojo.

* * *

April rubbed her eyes as the words in the textbook began to blur and run together, and resolved to take her contacts out before too much longer. The last thing she needed was another night of sleeping with her lenses in, which had been happening far too often since her peer group had shifted over to a bunch of nocturnal ninjas. She let her head drop onto the book and wondered if Donnie was available. She hated going to him for help — he had a sweet but annoying habit of trying to do the work  _for_  her — but without her dad, she had nobody to help her navigate the really advanced sets. She could figure it out on her own eventually, but it was taking forever.

She rolled over, stretching out on the bed and pushing her books and notes aside. Maybe a break would help—

Something moved out on the fire escape.

April caught her breath, her blood freezing. She glanced over at her phone, but the desk seemed incredibly far away. It was probably nothing, but ever since Dogpound and the Foot had taken her, she was more than a little bit jumpy, a small corner of her mind always wondering if they'd be able to figure out who she was and where she lived.

Reaching up to the shelf above her bed, she groped around for the nearest solid object. Grabbing the first thing that felt like it could leave a substantial dent, she slipped off the bed and crouched against the wall beneath the window. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to remember everything Splinter had taught her. Setting her jaw, she drew back and launched herself through the window with a war cry, swinging her fist overhead.

An impossibly strong hand locked around her wrist, and she found herself dangling a foot above the balcony, the stupid fish lamp from the family's antique store clutched uselessly in her trapped hand.

Michelangelo looked at her from his seat on the railing, his face unusually forlorn. "Oh. Hey, April."

"Hey, Mikey." She wiggled her feet a little. "Do you think you could put me down?"

"Huh?" He really looked at her, only now seeming to realize that he was holding her up. "Oh, sure." He frowned. "Were you trying to hit me with that fish?"

"Nah," she said as he set her down. She put the lamp down next to the wall and leaned against the rail next to him. "Just checking something." She propped her elbow on the railing and rested her chin on her hand. "So what's up?"

He sighed. "April, do you take me seriously?"

_Whoa. Why do I get the feeling I just stepped onto a minefield?_

April thought carefully. "I guess it depends on what you're doing."

His expression darkened. "I knew it. You think I'm useless."

"Hey, hold on now," she said, placing a hand on his knee. "I didn't say that. Who said that? Was it Raph? I bet it was Raph."

Mikey stared at her, his lip starting to quiver. And then the whole story poured out. April listened solemnly, nodding in the right places, and as the story began to peter out, she held up a finger. "Hold that thought."

She ducked through the window, taking the fish lamp with her and returning it to the shelf. She paused only to grab her phone and a set of keys from her desk drawer, and returned to the fire escape, pushing the window closed behind her. She pulled out the phone, opening up her maps app, and punched in an address. "Can you get us here?" she asked, and showed him the screen.

He looked at it, considering. "Sure. What for?"

"There's something I want to show you." She looked up at him, hands clasped behind her back. "If we're going by roof, I'll probably need help with some of the big gaps."

He blinked at her, and the hurt in his eyes softened, his expression relaxing into what she had come to recognize as his 'cool guy' face. "Well, then it's a good thing you're with me and not some slow, stupid jerkface." He hopped off the rail and took her hand carefully. Then, with a grin, he yanked her onto his back. In seconds, he was on the roof, running for the edge, and in a heartbeat more, they were in freefall.

* * *

Being the focus of Mikey's attention was scary at the best of times. Being only half the focus of it was downright terrifying. April found herself caught in a breathless chase as they moved over the city toward their destination, half the time on her feet either chasing Mikey or being dragged by him, and half the time finding herself under his arm or over his shoulder as he cleared the bigger distances for her. Except for the moments when he seemed to find some random crime to fight with whatever part of his brain wasn't telling the story. He had a pretty impressive grasp of what she could do and what she couldn't, as long as he wasn't thinking too hard about it. So she endeavoured to keep quiet and let him continue his tirade.

"—and he doesn't get it! I mean, everyone knows that dolls and action figures aren't the same thing—" he grabbed her around the waist with one arm, catapulting off the edge of their current roof, the chain of his kusarigama catching an overhanging flagpole the next building over as he swung them down to another rooftop "—and he knows that too, but sometimes he just—" As they cleared the roof, April was able to make out a large man in Purple Dragon regailia advancing on a smaller one in the alley below. Seconds later, two shuriken thudded into the alley wall, pinning the Purple Dragon's hand over his head. "—yells for  _no reason_."

"Mmm-hmm," April said as they cleared the next roof, making the jump on her own this time.

As they ran across the next stretch, Mikey glared at her. "Are you even listening?"

"Captain Cadaver. Not a doll. Raph is stupid." Concentrating hard, she heaved herself across the next gap.

His eyes widened. "Oh. Okay." He landed next to her. "So I found this thing, right, and it's only missing two of the original accessories—" A cry sounded from the parking lot next to the building. She didn't even see him go over the wall, it was that fast, only heard the sounds of blows landing on a very large target, and then Mikey was back on the roof, a yellow purse in his hand. "And it would be better if the accessories were there—" He tossed the bag over the edge, a delighted cry from below indicating that it had found its original owner. "—but even without them—" He grabbed her again, and she clung to his back as he used a ventilation duct and a water tower to give him the height he needed to make it to the next building. "—it's still something I've been trying to find since I was little, you know?"

"I know," she said. "And it's not like it's a teddy b—" she caught sight of the look on his face and swung the thought around fast, "—bearrrr, which is fine too. I've got a bunch. They're good company." As he gathered himself for another jump, she put a hand on his arm. "Mikey?" He looked at her, and she pointed at the next building. "We're here."

He looked down and leaned against the ledge of the roof. "Oh. Right." He sighed. "Maybe he's right, though. Maybe I should be more serious."

"You are serious," said April. He looked at her in surprise, and she nudged him on the arm. "Seriously cool. That?" She gestured back at the rooftops. "Was  _totally_  awesome."

His brows raised. "It was just running. What's so cool about that?"

"Mikey," she said, "do you have any idea how many thugs you took down just now?"

"I dunno," he said. "A bunch?"

She leaned against the wall. "So you're also a serious ninja. What more do you need?"

He hunched his shoulders, looking down at the sidewalk below them. "For my brothers to take me seriously."

April put her hand on his shoulder. "Do you know what I need?"

"What?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I need you to keep being Mikey." When he shot her a disbelieving glance, she bumped him with her hip. "Now  _I'm_  serious. Do you know how much fun I just had? I mean, what would it be like if  _everyone_  acted like Leo? Or Raph?"

"Or Donnie?" he added, smiling a little.

"Or Donnie." She grinned. "If you ask me, I think they need Dr. Fun-enstein around to keep things from getting boring."

He raised a brow at her. "Maybe you should let me handle naming stuff." But his mood was starting to lift. Good. Sad Mikey was just...wrong. "So you really don't think action figures are stupid?"

April smiled. "See that window down there? Meet me there."

Leaving him on the roof to stare after her in bewilderment, she jumped to the fire escape and let herself down. Crossing the gap between buildings, she made her way to the front of the brownstone. Pulling the little-used set of keys from her pocket, she let herself in.

A few minutes later, Mikey was pulling himself through the open window, looking around the room with open curiosity. "Where are we?"

"My room," she said. He looked at her, a question in his face, and she shrugged. "My actual room." As comprehension dawned across his face, she sat down on the bed. "I haven't been back that much...it's kind of hard to come home and find it empty, you know?" She shook herself. "But that's not why we're here." She shoved herself off the bed and crossed to the closet. With a look at Mikey, she pushed open the closet door.

He moved to stand next to her, his eyes the size of dinner plates. "…whoa," he breathed.

April folded her arms, looking at the rows upon rows of heroes, villains, monsters and sidekicks arranged on the shelves. "It's something Dad taught me when I was really little. All those shows and comics were so amazing, but even when some of them had girls in them, the girls never got to do much." She shrugged. "This way, the girls got to do whatever _I_ wanted them to do." She reached into the closet, pulled out the Captain Cadaver accessories Mikey was missing, and handed them to him.

Mikey stared at her, and a massive grin spread across his face. "You. Are the coolest person. Ever." He grabbed her, lifting her off the ground in a hug that drove the breath from her body. "Maybe  _you_  should be Dr. Fun-enstein!"

Laughing, April patted as much of his shell as she could reach with her arms pinned. "Nah. I think I'll leave the doctoring to the expert."

* * *

Raphael moaned as Donnie finished wrapping the compression bandage around his wrenched knee. Behind him, Splinter watched the treatment carefully. "It'll be fine," Donnie said, clipping off the bandage and picking up the ice pack he'd retrieved from the freezer, slipping it into the velcroed sleeve that would allow him to wrap it around the joint. "I gave him some painkillers, just in case."

"No,  _you're_ ugly," Raph muttered.

Splinter looked at Donnie. "Exactly how much did you give him?"

"Um…" Donnie hedged. "Maybe a little more than was strictly necessary?" Splinter folded his arms, and Donnie shrugged. "It's not gonna hurt him. I just wanted to give myself a fighting chance in case he decides to come after me when I let him up."

Splinter sighed, but rested a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "It is good of you to care for your brother, Donatello."

"Yeah, well." He looked back at Raph. "Somebody has to."

Splinter patted his shoulder and left the room. Unable to put it off any longer, Donnie took a breath and went about setting Raph loose. Fortunately, either because of the painkillers, or because he just wasn't in the mood anymore, Raph seemed disinclined to take a swing at him. Donnie carefully helped him sit up, easing his legs over the edge of the chair. "How's it feel?"

"Fine," Raph snapped, pressing a hand to his head.

Donnie lifted the leg gingerly, performing the series of motions that would tell him if there was any deeper damage to the knee that they needed to be worried about, but Raph didn't react, other than to clench his fists. "They're right, you know. This wouldn't happen if you'd stop treating your legs like a battering ram and just do the moves like we're supposed to." Donnie let the leg go and rubbed his eyes. "Honestly, Raph, what are you thinking?"

"Thinking I need to take the other guy down 'fore he hurts one of you."

The response was slurred, and so quiet Donnie almost missed it. His gaze snapped up toward his brother. Raph saw him looking and scowled. "What? I didn't say anything. Shut up!"

Donnie held up his hands. "Whatever you say. Come on, you need to get off that knee and get some rest." He offered a hand.

Raph pushed it away. "Don't need help," he mumbled, and would have collapsed as soon as his feet touched the floor if Donnie hadn't been there, pulling Raph's arm around his shoulder and taking the weight off Raph's knee.

"Sure you don't," said Donnie. "I'll just stand here anyway."

"Didn't ask you to."

"Didn't need to." Donnie steered his disoriented brother out of the lab.

Raph looked down into the pit and stiffened. "Hey! That leprechaun better stay outta my comics if he knows what's good for 'im."

Donnie looked over at the empty pit, and made a mental note to ease back on the painkillers next time. "I'm sure he knows better."

"Thass right." He pointed an accusing finger at the air. "I got my eye on you, pal."

Donnie shook his head. "You tell him, buddy."

Raph leaned into him, staggering as they hit a small step. "I'm a jerk."

"I know. You can't help it, though."

"Think Mikey's mad?"

"Probably. He won't stay mad, though. He's Mikey. Besides, Leo's with him. He'll talk him around."

Raph patted Donnie's shell awkwardly. "You're a good guy, Donnie. Sorry I told you where you could stick your stupid science."

"That's okay," Donnie said. "It wouldn't have fit there, anyway."

Raph's legs gave out completely. With a pained grunt, Donnie hoisted Raph across his shoulders, grabbing one of Raph's arms with his right hand and the uninjured leg with his left. Raph's head bounced against Donnie's arm and left a spot of drool behind.

"Sorry." Raph's words were really slurring now.

"Don't worry about it. You can pay me back later." Donnie started moving again, straining under his brother's weight.

"I love you, man."

"Love you too, Raph."

His only answer was a deeply drugged snore.

* * *

Meanwhile, across town, an interstellar war raged.

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" April reared back, brandishing the action figure of what had once been Petunia the Princess Fairy, long ago re-christened Petunia the Destroyer. "You shall never defeat me! My tyranny knows no bounds!"

"Oh yeah? You didn't count on my Marshmallows of Doom!" Mikey, deep in the role of Elgarth the Magnificent, leaped across the room, ricocheting off her desk to the bed and sending a flurry of pillows at her head.

April shrieked with laughter as they struck, knocking her backward, but even as she fell, he was moving again, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Do you give up, Petunia?"

"Never!"

He dropped her the last inch and was off. Laughing so hard she could barely breathe, she felt desperately sorry for all the kids of the city who had grown up without ninjas. This was  _so_ much more fun.

Mikey perched on top of her desk chair. Some of the Pretty Magic Rainbow Kittens from her early childhood years had left the closet stash to join Elgarth in his hands. He cackled, fists raised. "All right, Petunia! Prepare to taste my  _Kitties of Fury!_ "

"I don't know," said a dry voice from the window. "Are you sure Petunia can take it?"

Mikey toppled from the chair with a squeak, landing in a pile next to April. He struggled back up, propping himself on his elbows. "Oh, hey Leo."

April pushed herself up as well, straining to catch her breath. "Hey." Her brow furrowed. "How did you find us here?"

"Please," Leo said with a smirk. "I'm a ninja, remember?" He swung himself into the room.

"Okay, then." April crossed her arms. " _Why_ are you here?"

"My brother was missing and I came to get him back." Leo surveyed the room. "Although you guys seem to be pretty good here—" His eyes widened and he darted for the closet. "No way! Is this the Nebuzarian Armour Captain Ryan?" He grabbed the action figure from the shelf with undisguised glee. "I thought they only released these in Germany!"

"They did," April said smugly. "But my family has connections in the collectibles market."

"You should see some of the crazy stuff she's got," Mikey added.

Leo looked dreamily down at the Captain Ryan figure cradled in his hand, and April and Mikey exchanged a look. Grinning, they moved apart, flanking Leo on either side.

"Well, Elgarth, this  _is_  a new development." April climbed up on the desk. "The great Captain Ryan descending from on high to break up our little party. Shall we set our differences aside and deal with this most unwanted interruption?"

"Indeed, my dear Petunia! We shall destroy this intruder  _and_  his precious  _Dauntless_!" Mikey crouched, ready to strike.

Leo looked from one of them to the other, and his face broke into a grin of unadulterated delight. "You fools!" He struck a scarily accurate Captain Ryan pose. "No evildoers can possibly stand against the united powers of the Planetary Alliance!"

"Yaaaaugh!" April launched herself off the desk at him.

He wasn't there anymore. As Leo vaulted out of the way, April found herself coming down on top of Mikey instead. Effortlessly, Mikey flipped from his crouch onto his back, catching her easily. She hung there for a millisecond before his feet, planted firmly but gently in her midriff, pitched her over his head toward the bed. April shrieked as she pinwheeled through the air, but Leo was already waiting. She smacked into him hard, his arms locking around her waist even as the force of her momentum threw them both onto the bed. Giddy with laughter, she struggled futilely to get up as Leo clung to her, demanding that Petunia surrender to the overpowering might of the Alliance.

With a bloodcurdling cry, Mikey flung himself at them both. Leo's arms tightened around April's waist as he yanked her out of the way, the force of Mikey's landing bouncing them up to a sitting position as the bedframe creaked.

"Get him!" Leo yelled, and they threw themselves on top of him.

"No fair!" Mikey bucked under them, though he was grinning hard enough that April's face ached in sympathy. "You switched teams!"

"Never underestimate the duplicity of Petunia the Destro—"

With an ominous crack, the bed shifted beneath them, and collapsed to the floor.

April knelt there, her heart pounding, still half on top of Mikey. The boys looked at each other and then back at her, horrified.

"April," Leo began, his voice ringing with concern.

She couldn't help it. A strangled noise escaped her, and she doubled over into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. "I'm sorry!" she gasped. "The looks… on your  _faces!_ "

Mikey was the next to join her, but Leo wasn't far behind, the three of them falling over each other as laughter rendered them helpless. April's sides ached, and tears streamed down her face, but her squeaky "owwww" only set them off even harder.

"Ohmigosh, I almost forgot," she wheezed, pulling herself out of the tangle of limbs and falling off the now much-shorter bed. "You're gonna love this. Wait here."

She ran into the closet, sliding the door closed except for a tiny crack. As she found what she wanted and struggled into it, she kept half an eye on the boys through the crack. As they brought their laughter under control, Leo reached over and helped Mikey sit up.

"So," Mikey said, sobering a little. "Is Raph still mad?"

"Nah," said Leo. "He wrenched his knee."

Mikey made an exasperated sound. "Again?"

"Yeah. But Donnie fixed him up. And lectured him about physics."

"Ouch. Poor Raph." Mikey sighed. "I guess this means I have to forgive him." He sounded annoyed, but there was no anger on his face as he drew a knee up to his chest and wrapped his hands around it. "So how  _did_ you find us?"

"It really wasn't that hard. You left a heck of a trail of cops and Purple Dragons to follow." Leo reached out and rubbed Mikey's head. "Nice work there, little brother."

April smiled, leaning her head against the wall as she watched them. Then, deciding she was ready, she jammed the wig on her head and pushed back the closet door. The boys looked her way, and she watched Leo's mouth fall open as he took in the polished boots, red uniform, and the cascade of teal hair falling over her shoulders. She planted her hands on her hips, smiling in satisfaction.

"You," Leo said slowly, "have a Lieutenant Virtue costume?"

"Yup." She said. "I mean, I'm really only a fan of that one episode, but there was this family contest thing with some of my dad's friends a couple Halloweens ago, and he thought we'd be a lock."

Leo beamed at her. "That is  _so awesome!_ "

April grinned, and bounced on her toes. "Oh, wait! Dad still has his Captain Ryan costume!" She ran for the door. "I bet it'd even fit you; he was really paunchy back then."

Behind her, she heard Mikey explode with laughter, accompanied by Leo's aggrieved, "Hey!"

"That's not what I meant!" she yelled back down the hall. "You have a shell, dummy!"

Still laughing, she pushed open the door to the bedroom down the hall, and froze.

Only then did she realize that she hadn't opened this door since her dad had been taken. The room beyond was dark, and cold, but it still  _smelled_  like him. Fighting back the stinging in her eyes, she felt her way over to the bed. She stretched out on it carefully, burying her face in the pillows and breathing deeply. Just for a minute.

When she felt that she had indulged long enough, she pushed herself up, wiped her eyes, and got what she needed from the closet. She paused only briefly on the threshold, looking back into the dark room.

"Miss you, daddy," she whispered.

The unmistakable sounds of the interstellar war starting up again drifted to her from down the hall, and she closed the door, smiling. This house had been empty of joy for way too long, and as she listened to Elgarth challenging Captain Ryan to a duel to the death, she found that didn't have the words to describe the feeling that filled her when she considered how the boys, Mikey in particular, had found her at the darkest point of her life and given the gift of laughter back to her.

Captain Ryan's costume pressed tight to her chest, she ran back down the hall, throwing open the door. Without even really looking, she launched herself at the bed. She didn't even care who caught her. She just knew that there wasn't even a question that one of them would.

And that, in this moment, was enough.

* * *

"[Holding on Tight](http://stormynight108.tumblr.com/post/56896388544/holding-on-tight-from-a-scene-in-falling-i-want)" by stormynight108

"[Serious Business](http://lorna-ka.tumblr.com/post/37839880296/sketches-inspired-by-chapter-25-of)" by lorna-ka


	15. Caduceus (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which hurts are tended and April learns who heals the healers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On thinking about it, this interlude actually takes place just before "Serious Business." I think the pacing and the tonality balances out more with this in between that and "Please Don't Stop the Music", so I'll move this there sometime next week. Both of them take place just before the Mousers episode.

 

**Caduceus (an interlude)**

* * *

 

Leo clung to the shadows, becoming one with the darkness. This path was too open. Too dangerous. He leaped, pulling himself onto the network of pipes above, leaving no more trace than a ghost moving through mist. He was nearly upon his target, but he would not let his guard down now. He had been deceived before.

Not this time.

Gauging the distance carefully, he waited. The field of battle looked clear, but appearances were not to be trusted. It was almost time. So very close.

He fell, plummeting from above like a striking falcon. Rolling as soon as he hit the ground, he reached, and his hand closed on the target. It was his, now. No one would be permitted to take this from him.

"Yes!" Leo hugged the remote. "Space Heroes marathon, here I come!"

There was a muffled explosion from Donnie's lab, followed by an enraged, " _Mikey_!"

"…or not." Leo looked at the remote and sighed. He could ignore it. He  _should_  ignore it. A year ago, he would have. But he was leader now. As much as he wanted to lose himself and just  _not_  think about the team for once, the guilty voice inside of him wouldn't allow him to let this one go. He set the remote down with a pat of regret, and headed toward the lab. There was something in the air tonight, he thought. Raph had been way moodier than normal before he disappeared completely, Donnie had been wound even tighter than usual for days, and Mikey...was bored.

Peering cautiously into the lab, Leo found his youngest brother perched on top of the cooling fan on the wall, using a microscope to fend off Donatello, who appeared to be trying to knock Mikey off the wall with a severely singed broom.

Leo smacked his face into his palm. It was going to be one of  _those_  nights.

"Why would you even touch that?" Donnie was in the middle of yelling.

"Dude, if you didn't want anybody touching it, you shouldn't have left it out in the open like that!"

"It was in a box! In a locked cupboard! With a sign on it that said 'Mikey, don't touch this or I'll kill you!'"

" _You should have known I'd take that as a challenge!_ "

With a bellow of rage, Donnie launched himself to the top of the desk. Leo moved, intercepting Donnie before he could reach their younger brother, and took him to the ground, pinning him in an arm lock.

"Leo, get off me!"

Leo looked up at a wide-eyed Mikey. "Out. Now."

Mikey didn't even try to argue. He vaulted over Leo and Donnie and bolted for the common room. Donnie struggled for a while beneath Leo, but quickly realized that he wasn't going anywhere and yielded with a string of muttered Japanese.

"That's better," Leo said, and let him go.

Donnie pulled himself up to a seated position, one knee raised, surreptitiously rubbing his wrist. "He shouldn't have been in here."

"I know that," said Leo. "But he's right. You've lived with him for fifteen years; you  _should_  have known he'd take that as a challenge."

"Nnngh!" Donnie banged his head against his knee. But, Leo noted, he didn't argue the point. Sometimes, when Mikey was concerned, it was just futile.

Leo sat cross-legged next to Donnie. "All right. Out with it."

Donnie raised his head. "Out with what?"

Leo folded his arms. "You're never exactly Mr. Calm and Collected, but you've been crazy over the past couple of days. So out with it. What's bugging you?"

Donnie looked away, idly reaching out for a pencil that the fight with Mikey had knocked from the desk, and rolled it back and forth along the floor. "It's nothing."

Leo snorted. "Oh, now you're not even trying."

"I must agree with Leonardo."

Donnie looked up, his eyes widening. " _Sensei_?"

Leo raised a brow. It was rare to see Splinter in Donnie's lab; their two worlds didn't always mix well. But there was concern on Splinter's face as he came to stand next to them, both hands folded on his staff.

Splinter looked down at them. "A house is supported by four pillars, Donatello, and there can be no harmony beneath its roof if one of those pillars begins to weaken. It is evident to us all that you are bearing a burden so great it is causing you to crack. You would be wise to relieve yourself of it before the damage is too much to repair." He rubbed his temple. "And if I have to listen to you yelling at Michelangelo one more time,  _I_  am going to break something."

Donnie sighed, and Leo could see him beginning to weaken. He placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "Whatever it is, Donnie, we can help."

"That's just it," Donnie said quietly, looking up at Leo. "I don't think you can." He looked past Leo at the books and papers scattered on the desk.

Exchanging a look with Splinter, Leo rose to find out just what it was that had put the weight of the world on his brother's shoulders.

* * *

April had thought that Dogpound was scary. But he was nothing compared to her aunt when she was in a mood. "April, will you wait just a minute, please?"

April backed hurriedly down the hall. "I'm coming! Be there in a second, I just need to take my coat off!"

Before her aunt could stop her, April was running, slamming the bedroom door behind her. She leaned against it, breathing hard, one arm wrapped around herself just beneath her chest. It wasn't so much the coat she was worried about, but what was under it was going to take some explaining.

Strong hands reached out of the dark and seized her arms. April bit back a shriek and jerked against their hold, but she knew already that the attempt to break free was useless. She raised her free hand as much as she was able and swatted the closest arm. "Why is it that none of you are able to grasp the concept of knocking?"

But then she saw his face in the dim glow of the bedside lamp, and her protests died in her throat. His eyes, wide and frantic, searched her face, and she could see Titian lying on her bed when she knew full well that he'd been in his Titian Cave in her closet when she left; he was only deployed for sick days and nightmares.

"Where is he?" Raph said, as loudly as he dared with her aunt at home, a near-hysterical edge in his voice. Immediately April's anger vanished.

"Oh, Raph, no, it's okay." She gently pulled free, and this time he let her go. She unzipped her coat with her free hand. "The vet said it was better to keep him warm." The bulge above her other arm shifted, and Spike's head poked out of the opening in her coat.

Relief flooded Raph's face, and he tried to hide it with a smirk. "That's my boy. Hitching a ride in style." He reached out to take him, and immediately tensed up again as he saw the sterile gauze taped over the little turtle's back half. Raph's gaze darted back to April.

"April!" The exasperated shout drifted through the door.

"Just a minute!" she called back.

"What's wrong with him?" Raph said. "Isn't it fixed?"

April's heart twisted. The four of them, Raph especially, spent so much time being their boisterous, energetic, and occasionally overbearing selves that she often forgot she was a year older than they were. But she had never heard Raph sound so young.

"It's still there," she said gently. "Dr. Adams says it's a cloacal prolapse—"

His eyes widened. "I don't know what that means."

"April!"

"I'm coming!" She turned back to him. "Apparently it's not that uncommon in pet turtles—"

"But what's the red stuff?"

She tried to find an easy way of saying it, and couldn't. "Well, it's the lower part of his intestine—"

" _His intestines are falling out?"_

There was a banging at the door. "April O'Neil, what is going on in there?"

"Nothing! It's just the radio!"

"Why are you listening to the radio when I need to talk to you? Get out here this minute, young lady!"

Raph had gone pale, and he was breathing fast, more fear on his face in that moment that April had seen in the entire time she had known him. Firmly, she took his arms and pushed him until he was sitting on the bed. It spoke to the level of his fear that she was actually able to do it. "Raphael, I need you to listen to me, okay? Spike is going to be fine. I'm going to go talk to my aunt, and then we're going to deal with this. Have him hang out with Titian for a while. They can swap stories."

He wasn't listening. Or at least, it wasn't sinking in. He was staring at Spike, awash in panic, so April raised a hand to his face and tilted it up to hers. She saw his hand move, fist clenched as if he was going to hit her, but he checked himself as he finally focused enough to realize that it was her and not one of his brothers. It figured that his instinctive response to someone trying to comfort him was to push them away; it just didn't fit with his self-appointed role of the strong one. It also made her incredibly sad.

Now that she had his attention, she looked him straight in the eyes. "Everything will be fine, Raph. I promise."

Before her aunt resorted to breaking down the door, April slipped out. But as she started to pull the door closed behind her, she had one last glimpse of Raph, sitting down on her bed and pulling both Spike and Titian into his lap, looking completely and utterly lost.

"Ninja promise," she whispered.

His gaze snapped up to meet hers, and she closed the door on the hope dawning in his eyes.

* * *

Leo stared at the array of books spread across Donnie's desk.  _Gray's Anatomy. Veterinary pathophysiology. The Merck Veterinary Manual. Anatomy of the Head and Neck. Practices for Veterinary Herpetology. Medical Gross Anatomy._ Dozens upon dozens of pages of notes and diagrams drifted like snow over and between them. On the multiple monitors on his desk was even more evidence of Donnie's recent obsession:  _The State University of New York Interactive Radiology Atlas, The Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery,_ and what looked to be an incredibly realistic surgical simulator.

Leo looked over at Donnie, who still sat on the floor. "I don't understand."

Donnie looked up at him, and at Splinter. From the look on Splinter's face, he already grasped more of the situation than Leo did. "It started just after we fought the Shredder," Donnie said.

"The nightmares?" asked Leo.

Donnie's eyes widened. "You knew about those?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Please."

"Yeah, right, shoulda known." Donnie sighed. "And then Dogpound and the Foot got their hands on April. And we got her back, but it could have been worse. A lot worse." He toyed with the wraps on his hands. "And it got me thinking. We're gonna keep fighting.  _She's_ gonna keep fighting." He looked up at Splinter, forestalling their  _sensei_ 's words. "And I'm fine with that. It's part of what makes her who she is. But sooner or later, she's going to get hurt. So are we. And I need…" He faltered. "…I need to make sure that I know how to  _fix_  it."

Leo stared helplessly at his younger brother. Donnie was right. Leo couldn't help with this. If there was  _anyone_  in the world who could actually pull this kind of learning off, it was Donnie. But it was a terrible burden to have to bear alone.

He crossed the room and knelt next to his brother, laying his hand on Donnie's head. "When was the last time you slept?"

Donnie blinked up at him. "Ummm…what day is it?"

"I thought so." Leo took Donnie's arm and tugged him to his feet. "You're right, I can't help you with this. But I  _can_  make sure you don't run yourself into the ground in the process."

"But—" Donnie protested.

"Donatello," Splinter said firmly, "you  _will_  listen to your brother." He stepped forward, passing his staff to Leo, and took Donnie by both shoulders. "Your incredible mind is matched only in size by your heart, my son, and you must never doubt that I am proud of you." He inclined his head toward Leo. "But your brothers have gifts of their own. Use their wisdom, their strength, their joy in the world. Only by sharing the weight between you will our house remain strong."

Donnie looked away, his lip trembling. " _Hai, sensei._ "

Splinter patted him on the shoulder and held a hand out for his staff. "Think on what we have said, Donatello. Use this time for reflection."

Donatello made his way over to the desk, sinking into the chair as Leo and Splinter left the lab. As they passed through the doorway, Splinter looked down at Leo, who was already pulling out his Tphone. "You have a plan?"

"Oh, yeah," said Leo, punching in a message. "I'm calling in the heavy hitter."

* * *

April opened the door quietly, her ears still ringing from the chewing out she'd gotten. She felt really bad, too; her aunt was doing her best, but finding the line between discipline and compassion over April's missing father had been incredibly difficult for both of them since April had come to live here. There had been yelling, and they'd both cried a little, and as much as April had been dreading this particular confrontation, she actually felt better.

Raph was on the floor, leaning against the bed. He'd made a protective nest of her pillows that Spike was calmly exploring. Titian was in Raph's hand, and Raph was staring at the tear in the toy's leg that April had stitched up not long after she'd gotten him.

"You fixed his war wound," Raph said quietly.

"I'm sorry," April said. "Was that wrong?" She set the bag she was carrying down on the desk.

"Nah," he said as she crossed the room and sat next to him. "I just could never make stitches small enough to fix it." He looked down at her hand, resting on the covers next to his, and frowned. "Wow. That is tiny." Spike, attracted by April, wandered over the edge of his pillow nest and Raph dropped Titian in order to catch him. He held Spike close and looked up at her again, his eyes shining. "Is it serious?"

"It can be," she said. "But the vet said it looked pretty good. You did everything right, Raph. You caught it fast, and brought him here before any real damage could set in." She gestured at Spike's bandages. "The vet used some stuff that'll keep everything healthy until we get him back home, but she said his case is mild enough for us to treat ourselves."

Raph looked like he was going to be sick. "How do we do that?"

April smiled. "We give him a bath."

"What, that's it?" His eyes were wide with disbelief.

April stood and crossed to the bag on the desk, pulling it down to reveal the sack of sugar inside. "A long bath in a solution of sugar and water. You'll need to make sure he drinks a lot so that he doesn't get dehydrated, and we've got some antibiotics to give him after just in case, but Dr. Adams says that should do it." Her phone beeped and she pulled it out, frowning at the message on the screen before she put it away again. "Let me do one thing, and we can go take care of it right now."

Slipping out of the bedroom, she walked down the hall to the front door and pulled it open. "See you later," she called, and slammed it closed. Then she tiptoed back to the bedroom, closed the door quietly, and accepted the coat that Raph was holding out to her.

He was looking distinctly uncomfortable as she shrugged into it, and she paused. "What's wrong?"

"This fell out of your pocket," he said, and held out a sheet of paper.

She took it from him, bemused, and then breathed in sharply as she saw what it was.

The veterinary bill.

She looked up at him and shrugged. "Don't worry about it. My aunt is still alternating between smothering me with rules and then feeling bad about dad and throwing a huge allowance at me. I've got it covered."

"But—"

She stilled him with a hand on his arm. "I got this, Raph."

He breathed in once, quickly, and nodded. As she zipped up her coat, he handed Spike to her, and she nestled the little turtle inside the padded warmth. Then she let out a little squeak as her feet left the ground. She looked up into the stubborn set of Raph's face. "You know I can walk there, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he said, hiking her into a more comfortable position in his arms. "But it's faster this way. You got Spike's back, and I got yours. That's how this works." His expression dared her to challenge him.

She knew when she was defeated. Shaking her head with a tolerant smile, April reached out with the hand that wasn't supporting Spike and grabbed the bag of sugar. "Well then. Let's get going."

His expression full of the gratitude he didn't know how to voice, Raph leaped for the window and bore her into the night.

* * *

April peeked into the lab, spotting Donnie hunched over his desk. She frowned. She knew that look all right; that was textbook "scientist is wearing himself into the ground over his work and is too stubborn to take a break." Fortunately, she had more experience dealing with that look than she particularly cared to think about. She pulled out her phone and opened up her  _Science Today_  app, installed for just such a purpose. She was in luck. Smiling, she put her phone away.

"Hey, Donnie," she said, trying to ignore the way he jumped and flung himself across the contents of his desk while attempting to look casual about it.

"Oh h-hey April." He cleared his throat. "What's up?"

"There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. They say peak viewing time is in a few hours, which is pretty late to be out on my own, and I thought you might be interested. Wanna check it out with me?"

"What, just the two of us?" A grin spread across his face. "Sure!" He gave a little laugh. "And I didn't even have to use the flowchart." That last nonsensical sentence was said in a tone that indicated it probably would have been in his head if he wasn't so tired.

She looked at him, and frowned. "It's not for a few hours though, and you're looking pretty beat. Maybe you should take a nap first?"

Donnie waved a hand. "Oh, no, I'm fine."

April clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her toes. "If you're sure. It's just, it'd be a shame for you to sleep through it, you know? We haven't gotten the chance to hang out much lately."

His eyes widened. "Uh… maybe a couple hours wouldn't hurt."

"Oh, good. This'll be fun," she said, and meant it. She hesitated, and then stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. He started in surprise before returning it, his hands warm against her back. April pushed away after a moment, leaving her hands on his shoulders, and looked into his eyes. "Take care of yourself, okay? You're allowed to stop working once in a while."

He nodded at her, still caught off guard, and she left before he could recover enough to protest.

She headed for the kitchen next, peering carefully around the curtain over the door. Raph was hunched over on a stool, arms crossed on the table and his chin resting on top of them, staring bleakly at the large plastic basin sitting in front of him. Coming to stand next to Raph, April watched Spike roam placidly through the sugar water bath they had mixed inside the basin, a nearly-empty water dish on the table standing testament to Raph's diligent care.

April reached out a finger to stroke Spike on the head. "How're you doing, buddy?" She surreptitiously checked out the prolapse, but it had almost completely receded. He was going to be just fine. "You're really lucky, you know. You've got a pretty great big brother looking out for you." She scratched under Spike's chin as he leaned into her touch.

Without warning, large green hands caught her, and she found herself dragged toward Raphael. His arms wrapped around her waist as his head pressed against her stomach, and there was desperation in the strength with which he held on to her. April looked down at him, at a loss for words. Her family had owned a cat when she was little, and she still remembered the exact moment when she had realized that, when you take a pet into your care, someday there would come a time when you had to say goodbye to your best friend. It was a moment she wouldn't wish on anybody. She wrapped one arm around Raph's shoulders and placed the other hand on his head. He didn't say anything, but his breath hitched. She patted his shell gently, and he squeezed her tighter.

"Anyone here?" a tentative voice said from beyond the kitchen curtain.

Raph practically flung her away from him, but she didn't take offence. It was Raph. "In here, Mikey," she called.

The younger turtle eased through the curtain and took in the scene in front of him, wisely steering clear of Raph, who chose to ignore him. "So, what brings you to temper central?" he asked her.

April shot him a sympathetic look. "Getting yelled at a lot today, huh?"

Mikey shrugged. "All in a day's work."

April reached into her pocket, pulling out a small bottle. "Hey, maybe you can help with this. Spike hasn't been feeling so great, and the doctor says he should get one of these twice a day, but that it might be tough getting him to swallow them." She handed Mikey the bottle of pills. "Any ideas?"

Mikey stared at it for a minute, and then back at Raph, comprehension spreading across his face. Leaning against the counter, he grinned at April. "Watch and learn," he said. Yanking open a drawer, he pulled out a plastic baggie and dropped one of the pills into it. Then he walked over to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out a hammer.

April raised a brow. "Umm…"

"Donnie has trouble putting things back in the right place when he's thinking too hard about stuff," Mikey said, and whacked the pill, pulverizing it to dust. Sticking the hammer back in the fridge, he pulled out a lettuce leaf, dropped it in the bag, and shook it until the medicine coated the leaf.

April blinked at him in wonderment. "Mikey, that was...kinda brilliant."

He sniffed, examining his fingers. "Yeah. I know." He looked up at her. "How else can my genius help you today?"

Raph was watching by this time, his expression a little nonplussed as he stared at Mikey. In answer to Mikey's question, April's stomach growled loud enough to rival Dogpound. She wrapped her arms around herself defensively as both brothers stared at her. "I missed dinner, okay?"

Raph looked a little guilty at that, but Mikey brightened. "Do you want a snack? I could make you a snack."

"Sounds great," she said. "Give me a couple minutes though, okay?"

As she headed toward the common area, she paused in the doorway and looked back. Mikey walked over to Raph and looked into the basin, wincing as he saw the remnants of the prolapse. "How's he doing?"

"Good," Raph said, with a small smile. "He's tough."

"Of course he is," said Mikey. "He learned from you." Mikey pulled the medicine-coated leaf out of the bag, offering it to his brother. Raph took it and held it out, to Spike's immense interest.

"Thanks, Mikey," Raph said quietly, as Spike took a bite from the leaf.

Mikey leaned against Raph, putting an arm around his shoulders. "That's what bros are for, dude."

Letting the curtain fall behind her, April turned and let out a small squeak as she nearly collided with the solid bulk that was Splinter. She looked up at him through her bangs, knowing that he'd just overheard everything. He didn't say anything, though. Just laid a hand on her head, smiling in approval, before he stepped back and made his way into the dojo. Sighing, she allowed her head to fall back against the wall, closing her eyes for just a minute.

"You've been doing some heavy lifting today," came a quiet voice from the shadows.

April opened her eyes again as Leo stepped into the light. "I could say the same for you. Got your text, by the way."

He smiled. "So I noticed. You can hear Donnie snoring from here."

She rubbed her arm. "And what about you? We haven't talked much since the whole 'destroy the lair' thing went down. How are you doing?"

"Fine," he said. "I'm more concerned about how you're doing."

"Don't be," she said. "I'm not the one who has to lead a team of ninjas against a psychopath."

He frowned at her. "But we  _are_  a team of ninjas. It's kind of our thing. You got dragged into this whole mess because of us."

April frowned back at him. "Leo, you don't have to worry about everyone else all the time."

"But I'm the oldest, it's my job."

"No you're  _not_ ,  _I'm_ the—"

She broke off as she met his gaze, both of them realizing what was happening at the same moment. Suddenly, the fact that they were essentially in the middle of an older-sibling throwdown struck her as incredibly funny. Unable to help herself, April let out a snort of laughter, which was echoed by Leo. "Wow," she said. "This is so not going to work. What was it Splinter said about the house thing? If we're both trying to be the supporting pillar, we're going to end up knocking the house down."

Leo raised a brow. "Huh. He's getting a lot of use out of that metaphor."

April snickered. "I wonder if he has a book of wise sayings that he consults."

"Or a 'nugget of wisdom a day' calendar."

They looked at each other again, and April shrugged. "So how about we agree to support each other?"

He pretended to think about it. "That might work."

"Mutual hug?" April opened her arms.

Leo's expression softened. "I think I can manage that."

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. April's hands slipped around his waist, and as she pressed her face against his chest, she found the weight she had been carrying lifting from her shoulders, and the tension and worry that had filled her since her fight with her aunt slipped away. She realized with a start of surprise that she had never hugged Leo before, and as his cheek came to rest on top of her head, she felt the echoes of his brothers in the gesture.

Mikey's hugs were freely given, as wild and full of energy as he was, and a little frightening in that you never knew where you were going to end up when it was over. When Donnie hugged you, you knew that you mattered, and that he was the shield between you and the rest of the world that would keep anything bad at bay. Raph's hugs were as brusque and tough as Raph, all power and no finesse. Awkward, but precious for their rarity.

And Leo? Leo hugged like he meant it. His embrace was strength, and support, and comfort, and when he hugged you, you knew that he would never, ever let you fall. In his arms, you were assured that there was a plan that made sense of the world, and that he knew exactly what your place was in it.

They were all so different, these four brothers who had taken her into their lives. Yet the one thing they shared was a staggering capacity for kindness, and generosity, and love.

They had the biggest hearts of anyone she had ever met.

She felt Leo sigh, some of his tension leaving him as well, and she smiled. "So, I think there's a Space Heroes marathon on tonight. I've got some time to kill before a meteor shower."

A jolt of interest ran through him, but he was still trying to be the big brother. "You don't have to do that. I know you only really like that one episode."

"It's different with the right company." She pulled back enough that she could look up at him. "It's corny and all, but it can be fun to watch, too. It's just hard to get into it when you're living with someone who nitpicks all the science."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Pshh. Tell me about it." He wavered, but she wasn't surprised when he caved. "I think if we hurry, we can catch the really good part of the episode where they accidentally travel back in time and stop the extinction of the dinosaurs!"

_Ha. Big sister'd._

Grinning, she let him take her hand and drag her toward the TV, filling her in with an incredibly detailed plot synopsis along the way. Mikey joined them just as Leo was flipping through the channels, and he held a bowl and a pair of chopsticks out to her.

"What's in it?" she asked.

Mikey beamed at her. "It's probably better not to ask, but trust me, it's awesome."

April took the bowl as Leo sent her a panicked look, but it smelled okay, and Mikey  _had_  been hanging around Mr. Murakami an awful lot. Besides which, he just looked so  _happy_  to be useful. "Thanks, Mikey," she said. "Are you going to stick around?"

"That depends." He looked dubiously at the screen. "Do I have to pay attention?"

"No," she said. "Not as long as you don't spoil it for the rest of us." Leo let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Mikey considered that for a moment. "Okay, that sounds fair."

As April settled herself next to Leo, sharing an oversized cushion with him since the benches in the pit could get pretty uncomfortable after a while, Mikey plonked himself at her feet, leaning against her legs and pulling out his Tphone, switching the volume to silent as he loaded up a game. Soon, they were watching an incredibly badly drawn Tyrannosaurus chasing Grundch across the screen, though April was enjoying Leo's reaction more than the actual show. And she had to admit, the snack Mikey had made for her, which appeared to consist mainly of pepperoni and ramen noodles in addition to some unidentifiable green stuff, was actually pretty good.

Raph wandered out of the kitchen not long after that, Spike wrapped in a dishtowel in his arms. April cast him a questioning look, and he answered with a tired smile, giving her a thumbs up. He settled on the edge of the pit, not close enough to give the impression he was watching, but close enough to be within easy reach of the others. He ignored the show completely, his attention focused entirely on Spike, but for once, he didn't offer any scathing commentary.

As the episode ended and a new one started, Leo let out a fairly impressive squeal of glee. "This is the scary one with the Denuvian nightmare bats!"

Raph opened his mouth, but closed it again at April's look.

Half an hour later, Leo was clinging to April's arm, Mikey had abandoned his Tphone and had both arms wrapped around her legs, and even Raph was paying attention, though he'd hidden Spike's head with the dishtowel. So when the crash sounded behind them, all four of them jumped with a scream.

Donnie stumbled toward them, still largely asleep, apparently having just collided with the Space Heroes game. A pillow in one hand and a blanket dragging behind him from the other, he almost made it to where April and the others sat before he collapsed to the ground, snoring fit to wake the dead. Frowning, Mikey picked up a chopstick from April's now-empty bowl and climbed over the bench so that he could jab Donnie with it until the snoring stopped. Dusting off his hands with a look of satisfaction, he reached out, lifted Donnie's head, and slipped the pillow beneath it. Mikey patted Donnie's now-cushioned head, dropping an absent-minded kiss on it before he slid back down to the floor to resume his hold on April's legs. Leo let go of her just long enough to pull the blanket over Donnie.

April leaned her head against Leo's shoulder and sighed. She had come to depend on the brothers for so much since her dad had been taken. They were there with their companionship when she was so sad and lonely she couldn't bear it, they were careful and patient as she attempted to master her training, and when she had messed up and gotten caught by the Foot, there hadn't been a moment of doubt in her heart that they would come for her and take her back. But they had their challenges, too, and some hurts didn't respond to weapons or spinning back kicks. Some of those hurts needed the strength and experience of an older sister in order to heal. And as long as they needed her, she was going to be there for them.

That's what it meant to be family.

* * *

 

"[A Secret Mission](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJprRg2Lj_k)" by Skyecrystal

"[Lost](http://jinja-neko.tumblr.com/post/61720879741/before-her-aunt-resorted-to-breaking-down-the)" by Jinja-neko

"[Caduceus](http://fivefootoh.tumblr.com/post/49261426897/without-warning-large-green-hands-caught-her)" by fivefootoh

 

 

"Caduceus" by Ruslanan [Part 1](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/93984341666/chapter-caduceus-of-falling) & [Part 2](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/95006296086/chapter-caduceus-of-falling-by-fantasiawanderin)


	16. Red, Green, and Gold (An Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April takes down an evil Santa and some thugs learn why you don't mess with Mikey's sister. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They were doing a TMNT advent calendar thingy over in tumblr, and Ajir needed an idea for the "Red, Green, and Gold" prompt. I suggested something, Ajir produced a really sweet drawing of it , and it made me really want to write something for my birthday (four days before Christmas). And Ajir was happy to let me lob the serve back in interlude form. So here it is. The Falling Holiday Special. Part 1.

 

**Red, Green, and Gold (an Interlude)**

* * *

 

April's heart was in her throat as she came down on the edge of the snowy rooftop. She'd messed up, missed the glint of ice. She knew it even as she came down, and she fought for the landing, but she couldn't stop her foot from slipping out from beneath her. She couldn't stop the fall. It was happening so fast; though her thoughts were racing, she didn't even have time to scream. And none of them were even facing her. They wouldn't know what had happened until it was too late.

Even as she began to topple backward, Michelangelo, without looking, grabbed her arm and hauled her over to him. Shaking, she leaned against his shell with a breath of relief. By that time, the other three were already on the other side of the roof, looking down over the edge at their quarry. Mikey jumped down from the ledge and took her hand, steadying her over the icy patches as they hurried to join the others.

"Don't worry," he whispered to her. "Raph had trouble with ice, too. You have no idea how many storm drains he fell down when Splinter was putting us through Two Lines."

Donnie shushed him as they drew closer, moving aside to give April space between him and Leo at the edge of the roof. Mikey contented himself with planting his hands on April's shoulders and leaning on her until she bent down enough that he could see. Resting her elbows on the ledge, she looked at the scene unfolding in front of the warehouse below them.

"Is that them, April?" Leo asked.

"Yup." Her fingers clenched on the ledge as she counted off the Purple Dragons below her. "There's a few missing though."

"Seriously, who robs charity kettles on Christmas Eve?" Donnie frowned as he leaned on his staff. "That's low even for Purple Dragons."

Raph drew his sai. "So let's help them ring in the New Year."

"Too early, dude," said Mikey. "It's not even Christmas yet. If you're gonna do witty banter, you gotta work on your timing."

Scowling at his younger brother, Raph advanced. "How 'bout I work it out on your shell?"

"Enough, you two." Leo stepped between them. "Let's focus on what's important here. We get in, get that money for the kids' hospital back, and get out."

"And kick some Purple Dragon butt along the way?" Raph asked.

Leo grinned. "Of course." He looked at April. "And you—"

"Stay here, I know, I know." April folded her arms. "I'm not completely suicidal, you know."

"We don't think that," said Donnie, giving her shoulder a sympathetic pat. "You're just really...enthusiastic."

Leo drew his katana. "Gentlemen, this night we undertake a mission far greater than ourselves. Tonight, we strike for the pure and the helpl—wwaaugh!" His inspirational speech ended as he toppled from the roof.

"Thank you," said Donnie, looking over the edge as Raph dusted off his hands. "You do realize he's going to kill you." He pondered a moment. "As soon as he can get up."

"Hey, if we'd waited for him to finish, it really would be the New Year," said Raph. He and Donnie exchanged a grin and leaped from the roof after their brother. Mikey, a heartbeat behind, paused to adjust April's scarf before he followed them.

As the snow drifted down around her, April leaned forward and watched her boys go to work.

They melted into the shadows. Without her training, she probably wouldn't have been able to follow them at all, but she was just able to track them as they rounded the building and fanned out around the Purple Dragons. There were a lot of gang members down there; more than she had ever seen in one place at any given time. Apparently, this operation was big, and more organized than Purple Dragons tended to be. That didn't bode well. It spoke of the involvement of someone a lot more intelligent and forward-thinking, and April had one guess as to who that could be.

She frowned as most of the gang members moved into the warehouse, leaving only two on guard. Those two at least were familiar, if unwelcome, faces. And she still owed one of them for trying to kidnap her with Dogpound and the Foot. Yeah, she'd already kicked a van door into his face and knocked him out, but she was still mad. Cautiously, she slipped over the ledge onto the fire escape below. She wasn't going to get involved. She'd promised. But that didn't mean she couldn't get closer to see what was going on. She hid behind a very illegal barbecue on the lowest level of the fire escape and peered around it.

The turtles struck. In the same instant, a roar sounded from deep within the warehouse, and a van tore through the doors with a screech of tires, nearly running Raph down in the process. Before she could blink, Leo and Donnie were on top of the van, with Raph pursuing along the rooftops. At a shouted command from Leo, Mikey stayed behind to deal with the two remaining Dragons.

"Wow, stealing from kids at Christmas." Mikey shook his head. "Someone clearly hasn't been watching their holiday specials." The Dragons charged at him, one of them wielding a crowbar, but Mikey wasn't there anymore, rolling out of the way so fast he was a blur, and knocked them down from behind. "I mean, seriously dudes, that is all  _kinds_  of wrong." The lanky one attempted to get back up again and got a knee to the face for his trouble. "Have none of you even  _heard_ of karma?"

That was when the third member of these Dragons' usual crew showed up in the doorway of the warehouse, still in the outfit he'd worn to get close enough to shake down the charity donation kettles in the first place. April's eyes widened as Mikey's ninja instincts kicked in and he whirled to face the new threat. And froze. She had a split second to see the look of incredulous joy spread across his face.

_"Santa?"_

Then the gang member he'd turned his back on hit him with the crowbar.

Mikey went down, hard. He struggled to get up, but he was clearly disoriented. The creep with the crowbar hit him again, and as Mikey fell to all fours, the air filled with the laughter of the Purple Dragons.

"Can you believe it?" said the one with the crowbar. "This lamebrain still believes in Santa Claus."

At the look on Mikey's face, their laughter redoubled. "Oh, go on and cry. Maybe Santa will come and save you."

"Or the tooth fairy," added the fake Santa.

"Or the Easter bunny!"

Their laughter rang in her April's ears, cruel and mocking, and like a dam breaking, rage ran through her and propelled her off the fire escape.

She dropped the remaining distance to the ground and pelted across the snow. On the ground, lying forgotten, was the large handbell that the Purple Dragons' fake Santa had used as part of his act to get close to the other Santas. It was in her hands before she quite realized what she was doing, and with a leap that would have done Splinter proud, she swung it with all her strength at fake Santa's head.

Fake Santa went down with a satisfying peal from the bell. But before April could recover, a stinging blow from the crowbar knocked the bell from her hand. She clutched her hand to her chest, unable to stifle a small cry, and realized that she hadn't quite thought this one through. The remaining two Purple Dragons loomed over her, their faces promising retribution. The crowbar lifted, and she cringed, waiting for it to fall.

It never got the chance. Thick lengths of chain wrapped around the Dragon's raised wrist, and April's gaze darted between the two Dragons to Mikey, now on his feet, with a look on his face that actually scared her.

"You," he said, in a voice she had never heard coming from Mikey before, "don't get to touch her."

He yanked on the kusarigama, and the Purple Dragon attached to the other end was unconscious before he hit the ground. The other one stared agape, and turned to flee. He needn't have bothered. Michelangelo was there first, dragging him into the shadows.

This time, none of the Purple Dragons got back up.

"Mikey," April breathed, reaching out for him. "Are you—"

"Pshh, I'm fine," he said, waving her off, his usual exuberance back in place. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, as the rage cleared from her system and left her feeling just a little wrung out. "They got the bell instead of me. I'm good."

Mikey looked down at the fake Santa sprawled across the ground, head planted in a yellow snowbank, and grinned. "You really rang his bell, April."

April groaned. "Oh, come on, that was terrible, even for you."

"What do you mean 'even for me'? All my zingers are quality." He paused, frowning at her scarf, which had come loose again in the fighting. He reached out and snugged it back up until it covered the exposed skin at her throat. He smiled, nodding in satisfaction.

"So," came Raph's dry voice from the mouth of the alley. "We miss anything good over here?"

"Nope," said Mikey. "Just wiped the floor with a bunch of morons. You know how it goes." He took April's hand, and the strength in his grip spoke more than words could have. She smiled at him, and he tugged her down the alley toward the others.

She did pause along the way to kick the unconscious Purple Dragon who had driven the van during her kidnapping. Because heck. It was Christmas.

* * *

It was cold on the corner as the snow tumbled down, but the old man playing streetcorner Santa didn't mind. He had been at the job a long time – his beard was genuine – and if his elf assistant was inclined to complain about the fact that she had a paper due in two weeks that she really ought to be writing, he didn't mind that either. She complained, but she was still out here with him. Still, even he had to admit, it might be time to come out of the cold. The people of New York just weren't in a giving mood tonight.

So when the young red-haired girl approached them with an earnest grin, he wasn't expecting much. He smiled at her, in a kindly sort of way, as she reached over the donation kettle.

Seconds later, he and his elf were left staring in astonishment at the thousands of dollars sitting in their kettle. With a cry, the elf set off after the girl, who was now running around a corner. But when the elf returned, dumbfounded, it was with an unbelievable tale that the girl had vanished into thin air.

If Santa or the elf had looked up at that moment, they would have seen the girl on the roof above them, surrounded by four protective shadows. But this was New York, and both of them had lived here all their lives; only tourists ever looked up.

This particular Santa had never really believed in angels. But now, near the end of his life, he was forced to wonder. And so it was that when he returned home to his family, he told his grandchildren the story of a mysterious red-haired angel who roamed the streets of New York, the protector of innocent children.

* * *

Leo wandered into the kitchen as Mikey was digging through cupboards, looking intently for something.

"Hey Leo," Mikey said, "I'm making eggnog. Which do you think would go better – garlic powder or soy sauce?"

Leo valiantly suppressed a dry heave. "Mikey, do you even know what eggnog is?"

"Not really. I know it has eggs in it." He stirred a pot on the stove and looked into it bleakly. "I think I just made egg-drop soup."

"Huh. Soup is good," Leo said, sitting on the edge of the table. "But not exactly festive."

"Yeah." With a sigh, Mikey jammed a lid on the pot. "The cookies turned out a lot better. There's just the icing left to do." He thrust a large bowl at Leo. "Stir this, will you? I want to make sure some of them are done before April has to leave." As Leo dutifully stirred the icing, Mikey used a dishtowel to pull a tray out of the oven, the contents of which did, at least, smell like gingerbread. "Man, you should have seen her today, Leo. She was all, like, 'RRRRRAAAAAGGH!'" He set the tray down and mimed the fight.

Leo smiled. He'd seen firsthand what happened when you came between April and someone she cared about. "I can imagine."

Pulling a cooled tray of cookies forward, Mikey looked over his shoulder at Leo. "Splinter didn't yell at her too much for getting involved, did he?"

"Nah," Leo said, as Mikey took the bowl of icing back and set it on the counter. "Not too much, anyway." He tried to figure out the best way to approach the reason why he'd come to the kitchen in the first place. Finally, he settled on the direct approach. "She kinda told us what happened."

Mikey turned, eyes wide, accidentally bringing his hand down on the hot tray on top of the oven. As he yelped and stuck his burned fingers into his mouth, Leo pushed himself off the table and walked over to him.

"Mikey," he said, stilling his brother with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Michelangelo took his fingers out of his mouth with a look of confusion. "Yeah, I'm fine, Leo. I've gotten worse making algae and worms."

"I don't mean that," said Leo.

Mikey ducked out from beneath Leo's hand, shrugging as he dug through a drawer for a plastic bag. "I know. But I'm fine, Leo." He shot Leo a rueful grin as he started spooning icing into the bag. "Seriously, I'm  _fifteen_. I get the whole Santa thing." He twisted the bag, forcing the icing down into a corner, and pricked the tip with a shuriken he pulled from his belt. "It's not like they were telling me anything I didn't know." Tongue protruding from the corner of his mouth, he carefully drew an icing smile onto a gingerbread snowman.

Leo filched one of the cooled cookies from the corner of the tray, ducking Mikey's swipe to get it back as he jammed it into his mouth. "Hey, these  _are_  good."

"I know, right?" Mikey said with a grin. "The secret ingredient is—"

With ninja reflexes, Leo was back across the kitchen, muffling Mikey with a hand over his mouth. " _Please_  don't tell me."

He removed his hand, and Mikey looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess it's not really a  _secret_  ingredient if I talk about it." He leaned over the tray and attempted a second snowman. The first looked a bit wobbly.

"I could help with that if you want," Leo offered.

Mikey let out a laugh. "Good one, Leo."

"Hey," Leo said with some affront. "My calligraphy is way better than yours."

"That's  _homework,_ Leo." He gestured at the cookies. "This is  _art._ "

Leo reached out and pulled the spoon out of the icing bowl, flicking it toward Mikey. With a squeak of alarm, Mikey flung himself protectively over the cookie tray, and the icing spattered across his shell. He turned on Leo, and though his expression was murderous, his eyes shone with laughter. "Oh, it is  _on!_ "

The resultant pursuit left the kitchen plastered with icing, cookie dough, and more than a little egg-drop soup, but Leo was satisfied that Mikey was actually in a good mood by the end of it. And they'd been very careful not to damage April's cookies. As they finished wiping themselves off with the last of the clean dishtowels, Mikey looked over at Leo.

"It's just a nice thing to think about, you know?"

Leo raised a brow. "What is?"

"The idea that there's this really nice man who loves kids all around the world, no matter what they believe in or what they look like." Mikey looked down at the dishtowel in his hands. "Even us." He set down the towel and looked back at Leo. "It's not stupid to want to be part of that, right?"

Leo's expression softened, and he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his little brother. After a moment, Mikey's arms went around Leo and clung tightly. "I think," Leo said quietly, "that if everyone in the world thought more like you do, we'd have a lot less work to do up there. And that's not stupid at all."

* * *

"…and then she yelled at me,  _again_ , for being out too late." She frowned. "Are you even listening?"

"Of course I am," came Donnie's voice from beneath the old subway car. All she could see of him at this point were his legs. She was seated on the floor next to them, Donnie's tool box in between them.

"Really?" April crossed her arms. "How many projects are you thinking about right this second?"

"Umm…. five?" He pounded hard on something. "But that's a lot less than usual. I'd say you've got at least…seventy-six percent of my attention. That's a lot more than my brothers usually get."

"So what was the last thing I said?"

"Your aunt yelled at you again for being out late."

She threw up her hands. "Yes! I don't understand. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong! I'm not hurting anyone, I'm not out having wild parties, my grades are good...now. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem," he said. "I actually enjoy tutoring; it's nice to have somebody actually  _want_  to hear what I have to say about math and science. Besides, your grades were fine before...well, everything. I just helped get them back where they were."

"Yeah, well." She gestured with the brush in her hand. Not that he could see it, but it made her feel better. "She keeps telling me I should be doing 'normal' stuff."

Donnie rolled out from beneath the car enough to put himself within reach, but his head remained hidden from view. "Socket wrench?"

She passed it to him absently with her free hand, and he disappeared back under the car. "It's just so frustrating. She's  _not_  my mom."

"I'm sure she knows that," Donnie said.

April made a few marks on the paper in front of her with the brush. "I know. You're right. But it's just—"

He rolled back out again. "Blowtorch."

She exchanged the wrench for the blowtorch, wrinkling her nose as some of the grease from the wrench stuck to her hand. She wiped it on the leg of the blue MTA coveralls she was wearing over her normal clothes. "—we used to be really close before all this happened. I  _liked_  spending time with her. Now, it seems like all we do is yell at each other."

Between intermittent bursts of light from beneath the car, she heard Donnie sigh. "You probably don't want to hear this..."

April rolled her eyes. "Go ahead."

"This can't be easy for her, either."

April drew a sharp breath, and let it out quickly. "I know." She bit her lip. "And I feel bad about that. I mean, she was used to being the stable, responsible one in the family. Dad was always off in his own little world, and she kind of kept the family going." She marked the paper again. "And over the last few years, I understood that more, because Dad was  _still_  off in his own little world, and  _I_  was the one who kept the house from burning down when he forgot about dinner—"

"Is that how you know so much about fire extinguishers?" He rolled out again. "Phillips head."

She passed him the screwdriver. "Yeah."

"So now you've got two women used to being in control living in the same house and trying to tell each other what to do," Donnie finished.

April looked at his feet. His toes had a tendency to curl when he was doing something really fiddly. "I guess that pretty much sums it up," she said, and laughed bitterly. "Next time she talks about sending me to a therapist, I should just refer her to you."

His toes uncurled as the clanking from beneath the car stopped. "She wants to send you to a  _therapist_?"

"She thinks I'm having trouble dealing with the whole dad situation."

The noises from beneath the car resumed. "Can  _anyone_  be expected to deal well with a situation like that?" He let out a yelp of pain and muttered under his breath in Japanese. As soon as he was finished cursing, he added, "Maybe it might help."

"Yeah, maybe. But she doesn't know about the robot aliens and mutant turtles part of it. Trying to keep my cover story straight is going to get real hard, real fast." She made another few marks on her paper, frowning at them. "Honestly," she said, and her voice hitched a little "...she just thinks I'm weird."

"Well, you are."

April's mouth dropped open. "Gee, thanks a  _lot_ , Donnie." She whacked his foot with the hard end of her brush.

"April," he said, "you're a sixteen-year-old girl who is currently spending Christmas Eve in a sewer with a bunch of reptiles and a giant rat. Even  _I_  know that's a little off the norm."

"Fine," she said. "I'll just take my weird self and get out of your way."

She dropped her brush into its ink tray, and would have gotten up to leave. But in the time it took her to put down the brush, she heard the squeak of Donnie's backboard rolling out behind her, and his hand locked around her wrist.

"Hold on a second," he said, all the way out now. He was covered with dirt and grease from the subway car, and he had a pair of goggles over his eyes that made them look enormous. "You're forgetting who you're talking to." He let go of her and shoved the goggles up to the top of his head. "Around these parts, 'weird' isn't exactly considered a bad thing." He was smiling at her, fondness and patience in his expression, but no trace of malice.

She forgot, sometimes, that the rest of her world wasn't like high school. Though there were some at school who ventured to talk to her now, her days still consisted of a lot of indifference mixed with whispers behind her back. But here, she was safe. None of the brothers would ever deliberately try to hurt her. And Donnie was a genius. Annoying as it was to admit it, he was right.

April leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, heedless of the dirt and grease. He froze for a moment, and then hugged her back with a gentle laugh. His hands were warm, and solid against her back, and promised strength and safety whenever she needed it. "Thanks for talking some sense into me," she said, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Any time," he said against the top of her head. "You gonna be okay now?"

"Yeah. Provided I ever get her present finished."

He let go of her and looked down into her face. "How's that coming?"

"You tell me," she said, and showed him the paper she had been working on. From the top downward she had copied, over and over, a single character of Japanese kanji. Shaky at the top, the strokes of the character grew stronger and more confident as it was copied down the page, dotted here and there with Donnie's surer strokes for reference. He could have easily done it for her, but she wanted the final character to be hers, and hers alone.

_Family._

He grinned at her. "Perfect."

She looked down at the page, suddenly uncertain. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Of course she will," he said, his hand resting on her shoulder. " _You_  made it."

With a smile of thanks, she picked up her paper and the ink tray and rose to her feet. As Donnie vanished back underneath the subway car, she headed to his desk to copy the kanji onto the corner of the watercolour painting of the dojo tree that she'd been working on for the last month.

She and her aunt may have had their differences, but her aunt was the one who had taken her in and, like the roots of the tree, provided her with an anchor to normalcy in the midst of the storm that her life had become. April was never, ever going to forget that.

* * *

Raphael rubbed his eyes as he stumbled toward the kitchen. He hated waking up hungry in the middle of the night; he could never get back to sleep without doing something about it. But Mikey had made cookies for April, which she'd fawned over before they had walked her back to her aunt's house, and he was hoping there'd be some left over. Though he was glad he'd taken Leo's advice and not asked about the secret ingredient.

He was in luck. Cookies in hand, he headed back through the common room, but a small sound from the other side of the pit stopped him in his tracks. His hand twitching, suddenly wishing for his sai, he moved toward the little tree April had managed to smuggle down for them. Mikey had spent hours making ornaments for it with April. And sometimes Leo. And Donnie, when he'd realized that April was involved. The tree was stunted, and suffering from mange in places, but Mikey loved the thing,

Speaking of.

As he drew closer, Raph could make out the form of his youngest brother curled next to the tree. Raph's brow furrowed as he moved in. Mikey was shivering a little – the lair was  _not_  warm in the winter, and Donnie turned everything off when they were sleeping to reduce the draw on their power – but there was a smile plastered on his sleeping face. And then Raph saw the cookies and milk placed carefully next to the tree, and understood.

"Oh, you dope," he muttered under his breath, and headed toward his bedroom.

He returned a few minutes later. Shaking his head, he unfolded his extra blanket and threw it over Mikey. The idiot had been up so late, he didn't even stir as the fabric settled over him.

_Some ninja._

Then Raph looked down at the other object in his hands. It was stupid. He hadn't even been planning on bringing it out. But when April had told him about what had happened with Mikey in the alley... Sighing, he looked at Michelangelo. No longer shivering, Mikey curled even further around his duct-taped teddy bear, muttering under his breath. Raph could make out one word in the mess.  _Santa._ And that decided him.

Raphael was the first one to admit that he wished Mikey would grow up sometimes. That he'd realize the world wasn't all fun and games, and take things seriously for once. But the thought of someone trying to take his brother's dreams away from him reduced Raph's world to a haze of red. And since he couldn't take his anger out on the Purple Dragons who had hurt his baby brother, he had done the only other thing he could think of.

Rolling his eyes, he placed the box under the tree, and carefully adjusted the tag so that it would be the first thing Mikey saw when he woke up.

_To Mikey, from Santa._

Heading back to bed, he paused once to look back at Michelangelo. Their world was changing, and there were dark things looming on the horizon. But there would be time to deal with that later. It was past midnight. Christmas Day.

The least he could do was let their brother dream, just a little longer.

* * *

"[Dough fight](http://waterjewelemi.tumblr.com/post/78587090738/was-doodling-today-and-drew-a-scene-from-a-fanfic)" by waterjewelemi

"[A Walk in the Snow](http://xskyecrystalx.deviantart.com/art/A-Walk-in-the-Snow-350551923)" by skyecrystal

"[Red, Green, and Gold](http://lateforerebor.tumblr.com/post/38094449704/fantasiawandering-ajirzecwredny-day-13-red)" by lateforerebor

"[Chatting in the lab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWDGxFU6yHM)" by Skyecrystal

"[Red, Green, and Gold](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/95096188531/chapter-red-green-and-gold-of-falling)" by Ruslanan

 


	17. Home For the Holidays (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which family is missed, but an early gift makes things a little better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musing last night on the fact that many of my family members aren't going to make it home this holiday, for one reason or another, was the genesis of this little slightly-out-of-Falling-canon scene. This was originally going to be tumblr-only content, like a holiday card in story form. Just a little thing I wrote at midnight on Christmas Day to say thank you to all of my followers there. But when I woke up this morning, I realized that I also wanted to thank everyone here who has been so supportive of this project. This fandom rocks. There's an image in here that I gave to Ajir who needed help with the advent calendar, which they turned into art, which made it into the story, which is another really cool example of the exchange of ideas that happens sometimes.
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! Be sure to take the time to give a big hug to someone important to you, and enjoy the time you spend together.

 

**Home for the Holidays**

* * *

 

The snow falling from the night sky muffled the sounds of the city. As April walked at her aunt's side, the shining lights around her promised cheer, and hope, and companionship in the darkness. But not for her. They blurred as she walked, and she rubbed her eyes fiercely, all too aware of her aunt's gaze upon her.

She had promised herself this wasn't going to happen. She had sworn that she would be able to spend all of Christmas Day with her family, and be normal, and do nothing to earn the hushed voices and pitying looks that had been her constant companions for months from everyone but her four best friends. And she had almost made it, too. She had been having fun. She had been enjoying the noise and bustle and chaos of the big family dinner, and if everyone's smiles had been a little stiff and their laughter a little forced, they had all been grateful to play along.

And then, during the gift exchange, it had happened. Before she had started training, she probably wouldn't even have noticed it. But as the family had been occupied with trying to teach her grandmother to use a smartphone, April's earnest young cousin had pulled a shining present from beneath the tree, glanced at the tag, and shoved it back, deep under the branches, with a mortified look on his face.

She hadn't needed to be told whose gift that was. Like the stocking that hung empty over the mantle at home, that gift had sat there, abandoned, for the rest of the day, its presence a constant reminder of what was missing.

Despite everything, part of her had always firmly believed that Kirby would be home for the holidays. But now Christmas was almost over, and he was still so far away. And she placed one foot in front of the other, and refused to cry, even though with every step she took, she felt like she was falling.

Her aunt was silent as she unlocked the front door and they climbed the stairs together, but when they were inside, coats hung, her aunt stopped her with a gentle hand on April's cheek.

"April…" her aunt began.

April shook her head, laying her hand over her aunt's. "Not tonight," she said. "We'll talk tomorrow, but today was a really good day. Let's just leave it at that for tonight." She let go and took a step back. "Right now, I really just need to get some sleep."

Her aunt didn't look convinced, but she nodded. April started down the hall, but a call from her aunt stopped her. "April, honey?" April turned, and her aunt leaned against the wall, resting her head against it. "I love you."

April smiled, even as her throat tightened. "I love you, too."

She turned back, unable to stop the tears that suddenly spilled down her cheeks. Stopping just short of running, April slipped through her bedroom door, needing to get away, needing to get to Titian, needing to do _something_  to anchor herself before she slipped away entirely.

And as she breathed into the darkness of her bedroom, she knew right away that she wasn't alone.

" _Knocking_ , guys."

The bedside lamp switched on, and Raph sheepishly reached out and knocked lightly three times on the wall. April rolled her eyes, trying to cover the fact that her face was wet with tears. "What are you guys doing here? I thought we were doing our party thing tomorrow."

"We are," Donnie began.

"But we figured you might need your first present a little early," Leo finished.

April looked from one to the other, confused. "Why? What is it?"

Raph looked at his youngest brother. "Mikey?"

Mikey cleared his throat. Stretching, he cracked his knuckles with a flourish before shaking out his hands. Then, in two bounds, he was across the room, enveloping April in a hug that stopped just short of bruising.

The air left her in a rush, but for once, it wasn't the force of Mikey's grip that took her breath away. Her arms went around him, shaking, and she buried her head against his shoulder. As she fought for control, Donnie moved in on her other side, wrapping his arms around her and Mikey both. Leo stepped in next from the left, adding his quiet strength to the embrace. And then all four of them staggered as Raph powered in from the right.

And as April hung in the middle of them, her feet dangling just shy of the floor, the trickle of tears slowed, and stopped. Because in the end, Leo was right.

This gift was exactly what she had needed.

* * *

"[Stockings](http://lateforerebor.tumblr.com/post/38076139447/day-11-stockings-tmnt-advent-calendar-april)" by Ajir


	18. Countdown (a holiday interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are fireworks and kissing. Though not quite in the configuration you'd expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (From January 1, 2013) Happy New Year, everyone! On a personal note, thank you to each and every one of you who have sent me good thoughts and contributed to the overwhelming reaction to this story; you have ended my year on a higher note than I ever could have imagined, and I seriously love you all.

 

**Countdown (a holiday interlude)**

* * *

 

April sat on the ledge of the rooftop, shivering a little. "Can you make it out?"

Donnie, one foot on the ledge, peered through his telescope with a look of concentration. "Not long now."

In the distance, they could hear the roar of the gathering crowd, and the intersection in the distance glowed bright as day. Which was only to be expected. This was New York on New Year's Eve, after all.

Normally, they could get a lot closer to Times Square using the rooftop route, but given the crowds in the street and the cameras up above, Leo had deemed it unwise to get much nearer than their current location. They could have stayed home and watched the ball drop on TV, but the unspoken feeling was that this year, they needed to see the fireworks live.

"So." Raph leaned against the ledge on her other side. "Any resolutions for the new year?"

April raised a brow at him. "You mean other than finding my dad?"

Raph winced. "Yeah, aside from that."

April thought about it for a minute. "I'd kind of like to try getting the rest of my life back on track." At his look, she shrugged. "I mean, I stopped doing a whole lot of stuff at school after my dad...you know. I'd like to try to pick some of it back up again."

"I'd like to go an entire week without being cut, bruised, or electrocuted by weird alien technology," Donnie muttered under his breath. He straightened suddenly. "Here we go, guys! Ten seconds!"

They didn't even need to count down; they could hear the chanting of the crowd from their rooftop. They lined up together, watching the ball slowly making its way to its destination as the people of New York came together to greet the new year.

The countdown reached one, and the skies blossomed with fire, and colour, and light. Grinning, April looked up into Donnie's beaming face, and he hesitantly reached out a hand toward her.

An instant later, April's feet left the ground as Mikey swept her into a fierce hug, spinning her in a circle before planting a firm kiss on her cheek. "Happy New Year, April!"

" _Mikey!"_  Donnie was looking a little like he'd been drop-kicked in the gut.

Michelangelo set April down with a look of confusion. "What? You're supposed to kiss somebody at midnight. It's, like, good luck or something. Right April?"

"So I've heard," she said, trying really, really hard not to laugh.

"But—" Donnie looked at them helplessly, his face starting to flush. "I didn't—"

Mikey placed an arm around April's shoulders. "We couldn't let April miss out on tradition! You don't want her to have bad luck, do you?"

"No!" Donnie said. "Of course not! But—"

"Then what is your problem?" Mikey demanded.

Donnie stamped his foot in frustration. "That's great for April, but who's gonna kiss  _me?_ "

"Oh, for the love of—" Raph stormed over to Donnie, seized the ends of his mask, and yanked. Donnie bent over backward with a yelp, his arms flailing, until he was low enough that Raph could plant a rough, impatient kiss on the top of his head. "There." He released Donnie's mask and Donnie toppled to the ground. "Happy now?"

Donnie looked at him incredulously as he picked himself up off the roof. " _No!_ "

"Whaddya mean, 'no'?" A deeply affronted look spread across Raph's face. "Why not?"

"Yeah," Mikey chimed in. "Why not?"

"Are you saying there's something wrong with me?" Raph folded his arms. April was trying desperately not to laugh now, her hands over her mouth as though that could help her hold it in.

Donnie backed away, his hands raised. "No, it's just—"

"Maybe you did it wrong," Mikey suggested to Raph. "Wanna try again?"

"No!" Donnie yelped.

Mikey raised a brow. "Or maybe I should show you how it's done."

"Stop it!"

Mikey and Raph exchanged a look. "Get him?" Mikey asked.

Raph pounded his fist into his hand. "Get him."

"Yaaauuugh!" Donnie took off, the telescope falling to the rooftop, as Raph and Mikey followed in close pursuit.

While the three brothers chased each other around the roof, April moved closer to the fourth, who had remained silent the entire time. He had spent most of the night carefully watching the streets below, ensuring that the multitude of people out for the revelry posed no threat to his family. Now he was watching his brothers, a small smile on his face. As April came to stand at his side, he transferred that look to her, and she took a moment to bask in its warmth.

"So what about you, Leo?" she asked.

"What about me?" he shot back, his tone both patient and amused.

She leaned against the wall. "You've been really quiet, and you've got your thoughtful face on." She looked up at him expectantly.

He shrugged, gazing out over the city toward the nexus of celebration in Times Square. "Splinter says we should use this night to reflect on what the year has brought, and what we'd change for the coming year. I was trying to do that."

"—you just stay away from me!"

"—go  _left_ , Mikey, what part of that is so hard—"

"—your left or mine? I hate it when you—"

April glanced over as the others rounded the roof again, and then gave her attention back to Leo. "And what did you come up with? Was it a good year?"

Leo breathed out once, almost a sigh, and April straightened a little. It had been an innocent question, but that single breath told her there was a much more complicated answer coming. But then, this was Leo. Beneath the dorky fanboy lay an incredibly contemplative mind; she just wasn't on the receiving end of it all that often.

"On the one hand, yeah," he said. "This year brought us a lot of good things. Like pizza. And topside. This is the year we discovered what real freedom actually feels like."

April bit her lip. "But?"

He rested his hand on the ledge. "It's the year we learned we could be beaten. It's the year we let a lot of people, innocent or not, get hurt. And it's the year that we were directly responsible for letting our father's arch enemy know not just that he's alive, but also where to find him." Leo's brow furrowed. "That part really sucked."

Behind them, Raph and Mikey finally managed to bring Donnie to the ground.

"—get offa me, I swear—"

"—Raph, hold him down—"

"—gotta sit on him, he's squirmy—"

"—stop  _kissing_  me!"

"Oh." April wrapped her arms around herself. "So, not a good year then."

"I didn't say that."

She looked up at Leo, and he regarded her fondly. "This is also the year that we added one more sibling to our family. And all other things considered, that brings this year out on top."

April's breath hitched. She'd been feeling it for a while, but this was the first time any of them had actually voiced it, and she was taken aback by how strongly the word affected her.

_Family._

To the background noise of Raph and Mikey egging each other on over Donnie's shouts of protest, April laid a hand on Leo's arm. Rising up on her toes, she placed a tiny kiss on her ichiban turtle's cheek.

"Happy New Year, Leo," she said.

"Happy New Year, April." Smiling, he opened his arms.

April stepped into them, and as they closed tightly around her, her shivering stopped. She rested her head against his chest as they turned toward the celebration, watching the fireworks that still blossomed against the night sky. The voices of the city were raised in Auld Lang Syne, the quarreling of the brothers behind them providing an odd counterpoint, and for this moment at least, there was no worry left in her.

April had wrestled with a lot of guilt in this past year. The hole in her life left by her father was a constant ache, and yet without that absence, she would never have met the guys. She tried not to think about that too much, but it plagued her late at night.

But as she stood, sheltered and protected in Leo's arms, providing her strength and support in return, she finally allowed herself to reconcile those two feelings. She missed her father. She always would. And she would never stop trying to bring him back. But she couldn't feel guilty anymore, because she could no longer imagine life without the turtles. They were more than friends; they comforted and cared for her like she was their sister, and she gave back everything she had in return. To lose any one of them now would leave a hole in her life every bit as big as her father's.

She glanced over at the rooftop behind them. Raph and Mikey had finally stopped tormenting Donnie and the three of them sat together, Donnie in the centre, Raph's elbow resting on one of Donnie's shoulders as Mikey leaned his back against Donnie's other side. Their faces upturned, they stared at the sky as the fireworks painted them in a rainbow of coloured light.

This was her family now, and though this coming year would undoubtedly be fraught with difficulty, they would face those challenges together. Together, they were strong. Together, they would find her father and bring him home.

And as the new year dawned, it took the last of her guilt and shame, and left her with nothing but joy.

* * *

"[New Year's Kiss](http://lateforerebor.tumblr.com/post/39164374085/fantasiawandering-falling-countdown-in)" by Ajir


	19. Promise to Keep (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an enemy returns, and some brothers learn why some promises *must* be kept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the reasons why I haven't been updating History Bites recently. In addition to much other IRL stuff, I had to write two stories for the Valentine's Day fic exchange. This is the one that didn't require editing to make it less obvious I wrote it, so this one gets posted first. This was written for momo-rawrr, creator of the fabulously adorable series of Mikey and Leatherhead art.
> 
> This one was REALLY hard to write. Like, stupid-hard. But I think it came out okay. It takes place immediately before I, Monster.

 

**Promise to Keep (an interlude)**

* * *

 

"So," Leo said as Donnie landed next to him in a flailing pile of limbs. "Tell me again why it was a good idea to come on a junkyard run by ourselves?"

Donnie glared at him, picking himself out of the pile of debris he'd landed in. "Because Mikey always picks up everything  _except_ what I need, and Raph…" he shrugged. "Was a jerk. Besides—" he let out a grunt as Leo grabbed hold of the strap across Donnie's chest and yanked him down beside him. Seconds later, a burst of laser fire streamed through the spot where Donnie's head had been. "-I didn't know we'd run into  _Falco_."

"Of course you didn't." The unpleasantly familiar voice drifted to them from the other side of the wall of trash they hid behind. "You'd have to be… _psychic_." Falco let out a laugh, and followed it with another round from the pulse laser.

Leo scowled, edging up their makeshift barrier to try to catch sight of the mad scientist. "Where did he even  _get_  that thing?"

"The Kraang, obviously," said Donnie. "They gave him mutagen so he could turn his friend into a monkey. You really think they'd stop at a laser rifle and go 'oh, that may be too much?'" Donnie cringed as the barrier shuddered beneath the laser blasts. "Besides, if  _Snake_  was good enough for an alien laser gun…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Leo frowned; the laser fire had stopped. Cautiously, he crept higher, trying to find a break in the wall of garbage to peer through. As he angled himself for a better look, Donnie edged toward another break in the wall. Leo's eyes widened suddenly. " _Car!_ "

"Car?" Donnie repeated in utter confusion, an instant before Leo barreled into him and knocked him off the wall. In the next moment, a rusted Buick obliterated the wall where Donnie had been standing. Through the now-gaping hole, they could see Falco at the controls of a construction crane, already angling for another wreck.

"You can't hide, Donatello," Falco called. "I know where you are. Your mind betrays you!"

"I thought that psychic ability was supposed to be temporary," Leo said as he struggled off of Donnie. "How'd he find more monkey juice?"

Donnie stared at him in disgust. "Don't ever use the words 'monkey juice' again. Please?"

Leo didn't have time to respond. Planting a foot in Donnie's chest, he kicked him away, launching himself in the opposite direction as a second car crashed through the wall. As the debris settled, Leo looked across the gap at Donnie. "We have got to get him out of that thing. You go left and I'll—"

A pulse blast cut off Leo's words. "Hit me high from the right? Come now, Leonardo. Your brain may be a tiny whisper compared to your brother's, but I can still hear it."

Leo scowled. "Hey!"

Across the gap, Donnie chuckled. Leo transferred the glare to him. "Donnie!"

"What?" Donnie said, and ducked as another car thudded against the barricade, sending a torrent of garbage cascading down on him.

"Okay, this clearly isn't working," said Leo. "We can't think about what we're doing with this guy, right? So on three, just…get him out of there. Somehow. And don't think about it."

"Oh, is that all? Thanks. Great plan, Leo."

"Shut up, Donnie. On three—"

Donnie peeked through the gap in the barricade and let out a squeak. " _Three!"_

Leo dove out of the way as another car completely obliterated their shelter. With nothing left to hide behind, he had no choice but to press forward. Falco had already grabbed another wreck with the crane; they needed to take him down. Now.

Trusting Donnie to make his own way to the scientist, Leo darted to the left, diving for cover behind the remains of an old dishwasher as a stream of laser fire chased him.

_Don't think, Leo. Don'tthinkdon'tthinkdon'tthink._

Falco's mocking laughter followed the laser blasts that pinned Leo down behind the rusted appliance. He shifted his stance, ready to leap forward, only to be blocked by another volley exactly where he had meant to go. "When are you going to learn, Leonardo? I can anticipate your every move. I know what you are going to do before you even do it. And more importantly…" another rain of searing light caused the dishwasher to heat up uncomfortably hot. "…I know how to  _hurt_  you."

Leo braced himself for the impact. But it didn't come. He'd let Falco distract him, and when the car went flying, it wasn't heading for Leo.

His eyes widened, and he dove from behind his woefully inadequate shelter, his frantic strides devouring the distance between him and his brother. " _Donnie!"_

Donatello looked up, startled, as the car struck the mountain of trash behind Donnie. Leo was moving as fast as he could go, but he wasn't going to make it. As he watched, horrified, helpless, the mountain toppled, and buried his brother.

" _No!_ " Leo screamed, flinging himself on top of the pile. He dug desperately, the twisted metal edges of the debris catching the tape on his hands and tearing through it, but he didn't care. He needed to get to Donnie. He needed…

Cruel, mocking laughter drifted from behind him. "There's no point, Leonardo. I can hear your minds, remember. Your brother's body may be down there, but his mind is not. It's only you now."

Leo's hands slowed and stopped. He stared down at them as they rested, useless, in his lap. And then rage, bright and burning, began to pour through him. He reached back, drawing his katana, and turned on the scientist as a scream clawed its way up his throat.

But as he turned, bright laser fire filled his vision, and the world went dark.

* * *

For the first few moments, as consciousness returned to him, he remained blissfully unaware of what had happened. But as he opened his eyes, a dirty, cracked ceiling swimming into view, Leo cried out as memory ripped through his heart.

_Donatello…_

Leo attempted to launch himself to his feet, but cold metal around his wrists and ankles brought him up short. He jerked against the restraints, snarling, his frantic gaze falling on his katana where they lay on a filth-covered desk across the room. Aside from the chair that imprisoned him and the desk, which contained a laptop, an unpleasant array of medical tools, and some kind of gun, the room was empty. Abandoned. There was no-one who would hear him call for help.

"Well," the oily voice spoke from behind him. "There is  _one_."

Fury spiked hot and fast through Leo as he lunged against the metal binding him. "Falco!" The restraints dug into his skin as he strained toward the man who had taken his brother. "When I get free, you—"

Falco just laughed. "Oh, I know what you'd do to me, I can see that just fine." He ambled over to the desk, picking up a syringe full of a glowing material from the medical tray. "But you'll never get a chance to carry it out. I can feel your anger and your pain, Leonardo. It makes you weak."

_Donnie..._

The scientist smirked. "Poor little turtle. Caring about your brother was your downfall, you know. I knew it was the only way to distract you long enough to get my shot in." He tapped the syringe, examining its contents. "It's a pity I had to destroy that mind of his. It would have been much more useful for my purposes. But I suppose you'll have to do."

_No... Donnie, no..._

Falco took his time as he walked toward Leo, brandishing the needle in his hand. "I have no idea what will happen when the mutagen reacts with a creature that has already been mutated. I suppose we'll have to find out. It will be a grand experiment for science." He grinned as he loomed over Leo, heedless of Leo's struggles to break free. "I don't imagine it's going to be pleasant."

_He...oh god... DONNIE!_

"I can feel your fear. Your grief. Your anger. But don't worry. In a few moments, you won't feel anything but this." Taking hold of Leo's arm, Falco angled the syringe toward it.

But Falco was wrong. Leo's anger was nothing. Leo wasn't  _allowed_ to feel that way - not since the first time he had picked up his blades in anger and almost...almost... His anger stayed locked down now, controlled, hidden away where it couldn't hurt anyone.

Except... Leo  _wanted_  someone to hurt.

Bad.

Leo's gaze hardened, the fear draining away. There was no room for fear now. Leo clenched his teeth, digging deep into the recesses of himself to where the rage lay, hidden, sleeping.

_Otouto..._

"You want to  _feel_ something, Falco?" Leo whispered. "Feel  _this_."

And he let the anger loose.

"What-" Falco faltered. "What are you doing?"

Rage poured in a torrent through him, vicious, searing, cruel, clouding his vision with red until nothing remained but the hate for the man who had killed his little brother. And then Leo gathered all the anger, the malice, the desire to hurt, and hurled it at the twisted husk of a man.

Falco screamed, clutching his head with both hands as he staggered backward. The syringe fell to the floor, forgotten, rolling away under the desk. " _Stop!_ "

But Leo couldn't be stopped now. It was too late for that. Still thrashing against the manacles that held him, he honed the blazing fury into a blade, keener than his katana could ever be, and drove it deep into the mad scientist's mind.

Howling in pain, Falco toppled across the desk. "Stop it!" His hands scrabbled weakly across the surface of the desk until they encountered the gun. Raising it in a trembling hand, he aimed it at Leo and fired.

A dart pricked his skin, the pain inconsequential in the face of the maelstrom inside of him, but the tiny thing quickly spread its venom through his system. A sound of wordless outrage tore out of Leo as his anger began to falter, the poison in the dart cocooning his senses like spider silk.

Breathing heavily, Falco dragged himself to his feet and grabbed a scalpel from the desk. "You will live just long enough to regret that." He advanced on Leo, still shaking, raising the scalpel toward him. Whatever cuts he made wouldn't be pretty. But Leo was far beyond caring.

And then, from the shadows of the abandoned warehouse, came a sound. A sound, almost familiar. Almost like a voice, piercing through the toxin that deadened Leo's limbs and muffled his senses.

 _Get your slimy mitts off_   _my brother!_

Falco staggered, and a small trickle of blood ran down his brow before he dropped out of Leo's sight. And as his vision began to blur and cloud over, something stepped out of the shadows, like a spirit of vengeance made flesh, eyes burning bright in the darkness of its face as the outline of a wooden staff passed before it.

Then, there was nothing but the darkness.

* * *

 _There was nothing but darkness in the tunnels. Leo raced through the junction, his breath burning in his lungs as he swept the flashlight in a panicked arc across the tunnel floor. He had to be here. He_ had _to be! But he was only eight years old... he was still so little to be by himself... Hide and seek was supposed to be a game. Leo had only taken his eyes off him for a moment..._

_The thundering of the drainage canal next to him rang in his ears. Donnie was still struggling to learn to swim..._

_And then, finally, he saw a glimmer of light further down the tunnel. Gasping, he doubled his pace, until he caught sight of Donnie crouched over on the floor. Panic swept through him, and he practically flung himself the last few steps._

_"Donnie!"_

_Donnie jumped and smiled at Leo in the light of his own flashlight. "Oh, hey Leo. Check this out." He gestured at the floor, where an enormous cockroach sat in the middle of a pile of garbage. "I think she's having babies. They're really tiny, and they're white when they come out. I don't think the exoskeleton is actually hard until it turns—"_

_As Donatello babbled on about the insect, Leo stared at him incredulously. Almost of its own volition, his hand drifted up, and Donnie broke off abruptly as Leo smacked him. Hard._

_Donnie stared up at him, one hand pressed to his face. "What—"_

_"It's been over an_ hour _, Donnie!" Leo shouted, his voice echoing off the tunnel walls. "You were supposed to come back to home free after ten minutes!"_

_Anger contorted Donatello's features. "I got distracted, okay?"_

_"No, it's_ not  _okay!" Leo dropped to his knees, grabbing hold of his brother and shaking him. "You can't swim, Donnie!" His gaze darted to the drainage canal beside them, its rushing waters swollen with the recent rains. "I thought... I thought..."_

_Donnie looked from Leo to the water. It didn't take him long to figure out. Donnie was the smart one after all. The anger fled from his face, and his hands came up to catch Leo's arms. "Leo...I'm sorry."_

_Leo reached for him, wrapping his arms around his little brother and pulling him close, hugging him with a desperation that bordered on painful. "You can't leave us, Donnie. You can't."_

_Quietly, Donnie started to cry, his discovery forgotten, and he clung to Leo. "I'm sorry,_ aniki _. I'm so sorry."_

 _Donatello's soft sobbing brought Leo back to himself, and he caught his breath, ashamed at what he'd done. Shaking his head, he rested his chin on Donnie's shoulder. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. But you scared me real bad." He pushed Donnie back a little and looked down at him. "Promise me you won't ever scare me like that again,_ otouto _."_

_Donnie looked up at him through his tears, and nodded solemnly. "I promise."_

_With a shaking hand, Leo reached out and picked up the trailing ends of Donnie's mask, using it to wipe the tears from his face. "Good. I'm gonna make sure you keep that promise. Forever."_

* * *

In a dark and unfriendly section of the sewer tunnels near the warehouse district, Donatello sat quietly, alone with the multi-lane highway of his thoughts. He hadn't had a chance to see much of what was going on in the warehouse before he'd clocked Falco over the head with his bō, but the look he'd seen on Leo's face... It hadn't been right. It hadn't been  _Leo_. It scared him. What had Falco  _done_  to his brother?

_-so if the squares of the inverse ratio-_

_-if he's actually_ hurt _him, so help me-_

 _-_ okitenai nara yurusanai yo-

_-the cold might be affecting his metabolic rate-_

_-penal code of the state of New York-_

_-_ maji de-

_-take longer to metabolize the paralytic—_

_-rip his beating heart from his-_

A soft sound at his feet caught Donnie's attention, and he abruptly focused his thoughts into a single train. He knelt on the cool brick of the tunnel floor, leaning over the still form of his brother. "Leo?"

The sound came again, definitely a moan this time. Donnie placed a careful hand on Leo's shell, letting the strong heartbeat beneath his palm reassure him. "Come on, Leo. Time to wake up."

Leo's eyes cracked open slowly, and Donnie's chest tightened as they suddenly filled with tears. Leo looked around the dripping, filthy tunnel Donnie had dragged him to - as it turned out, Leo was almost as heavy as Raph, and Donnie hadn't been able to get that far with him. Donnie watched Leo's hand drift up to touch the spot on his arm where the dart had pierced his skin.

"Is this death?"

Donnie's breath hitched at the sound of his brother's broken voice, and he laid a hand on Leo's arm. "Oh, Leo, no, you're not dead. That was just a tranquilizer. Once you shake it off, you're gonna be just fine."

Leo's eyes finally focused on Donnie's face, and went wide. "Donnie?"

"Yeah, Leo. I'm right here."

"You're  _alive?_ "

"Sure am," Donnie said with a grin, absurdly proud of what he'd managed to pull off. Almost as good as one of Leo's plans. "I noticed an old freezer just by where I was standing, so I let the mountain fall on me and ducked inside at the last minute so Falco would think he'd squashed me! I was hoping the debris would shield me from his psychic sense; I wasn't counting on it actually knocking me out - sorry about that - but I dug myself out as fast as I could once I woke up and tracked your Tphone to Falco's warehouse, and I called in a tip so that the police-"

Donnie was so focused on regaling Leo with the story of his victory that he missed the moment when Leo lunged off the ground toward him. He broke off only as Leo's fist connected painfully hard with his jaw and sent him sprawling to the damp stones of the tunnel floor.

He glared up at Leo, furious. "What the heck was _that_  for?"

But he felt his anger leaving him almost right away as he saw the look on Leo's face. Leo wasn't angry. Leo was _terrified._

" _You let me think you were dead_!"

Leo's voice, torn from his raw throat, echoed around the tunnel and rang in Donatello's ears.

"I  _had_ to," Donnie said. "Leo, I couldn't warn you. I couldn't even think about what I was doing, or Falco would have known. It was the only way to stop him." He struggled back up off the floor, reaching out a tentative hand. "He can't hurt us anymore. The police got there just after I dragged you out. Even if he doesn't get locked away for breaking and entering, there's no way that any corporate sponsors  _or_ the scientific community are going to touch him with a ten foot pole after this. And I took his laser rifle and the last of his mutagen. He's done, Leo."

But Leo wasn't listening. He was on his knees, staring at his hands. At the torn tape across his fingers. "I thought... I thought..."

Donatello had never seen Leo this scared before. Except once. And as he remembered, he stared at his big brother, horrified by what he had done. "Leo," Donnie breathed, " _aniki_... I'm sorry, I didn't think..." He reached out, taking hold of Leo and dragging him forward. Leo resisted for only a moment before his arms wrapped tightly around Donnie, his fingers digging with painful desperation into Donnie's shell.

"You can't leave us, Donnie." Leo's voice was muffled against Donnie's chest.

Donatello held his brother close, resting his cheek against the top of Leo's head. "I won't. You're stuck with me Leo. I'm not going anywhere." He let go of Leo long enough to pick up the trailing ends of his blue mask. Carefully, Donnie used them to wipe the dampness from his brother's face. "I promise."

Leo drew a shuddering breath, and relief flooded through Donnie as he watched the haunted look fade from Leo's eyes, until only the brother he knew was looking back at him. Leo gave him a shaky smile, and punched Donnie's shoulder. Lightly, this time. "You'd better."

"Come on," Donnie said, rising to his feet. "Lovely as these accommodations are, I'd _really_  like to get home so I can wash the stink of Falco's lab off me." He watched Leo stagger uneasily off the floor, and lunged to catch him as his knees gave out again. "Whoa! Easy there, big brother. You're gonna be a bit wobbly until that sedative works its way clear of your system."

"Sorry," Leo muttered, glaring down at his feet.

Donnie took a firm grip on Leo's wrist, draping Leo's arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. You can lean on me. I don't mind."

As they made their way home, Donnie bearing the weight of the older sibling who had so often borne his, he silently swore a solemn oath to himself. He had learned Leo's weakness today. And he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that no one would ever use it against Leo again. Leo was the strong one. Nothing was  _ever_ supposed to make Leo that scared.

And Donatello had made him a promise.

* * *

"[Promise to Keep](http://stormynight108.tumblr.com/post/43765337976/donnie-was-so-focused-on-regaling-leo-with-the)" by Stormynight108


	20. April and the Terrible, Horrible, No-good, Very Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April has an awful day, but fortunately, knows who to turn to to make it better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another interlude written for the fic exchange. Randomramblingtidbits had the perfect prompt for an idea I've been kicking around for a while, ever since Fantasia started getting hugs from party-dude-mikey. It was directly inspired by those hugs.

 

**April and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day**

* * *

 

April groaned as the sunlight streaming through her window dragged her out of sleep. She'd been out far too late the night before, pretending to be a potential Purple Dragon recruit so she could get some intel out of a few rookie members. She'd gotten the boys what they needed, but it had taken forever, and she'd thanked whatever fates were watching over her that her aunt was out on business again for a few days.

Rolling over, she cracked her bleary eyes to stare at her alarm clock. It felt like absolutely no time had passed since her head had hit the pillow, but it was already 9:45.

9:45…

 _9:45_!

A cold wave washed through her and her stomach felt like it was dropping out of her body as she stared at the numbers, willing them to change, willing herself to wake up again, willing this to be just one of those dreams…

_Oh no, nononononono!_

Her make-up test. The one she'd arranged because she'd slept through the  _last_  one after being up all night with her ninja brothers.

She was so  _dead!_

Screeching, April flung off the covers and bolted out of bed, but only made it a few steps before her foot slipped on the floor rug and sent her sprawling on her face, bashing the heck out of her elbow in the process. She glared at the rug, knowing she was in for a heck of a bruise, and hauled herself to her feet, scrambling for the dresser. She'd have to skip the shower this morning, there was no time….

Her eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of her reflection. She'd had to put on a lot of makeup for her role the night before, and it wasn't exactly something she was used to. She had thought she'd gotten it all off, but the person staring back at her had thick, dark smears around her eyes that made her look like some kind of weird cross between a zombie and a trashy late-night horror show hostess.

"Oh,  _sewerbunnies_ ," she muttered under her breath, and ran for the bathroom, shedding clothes along the way. She kept up her litany of creative swearing into the bathtub as she turned on the faucets.

A second later, she was out of the shower again, screaming, as the showerhead hit her with a blast of freezing brown water before stopping entirely.

Belatedly, she remembered the note that had been taped to the front doors as she had made her way in, exhausted, the night before. "WATER MAINTENANCE. MAINS SHUTOFF TOMORROW MORNING."

"Aaaaaugh!" Whimpering, she banged her forehead against the wall. Despite popular opinion, it didn't actually make her feel much better.

Ten minutes later, she had struggled into her clothes and done the best she could with her hair, though given the amount of hairspray she'd needed to use the night before, it still looked a bit like birds had been nesting in it. She'd had to make do with toilet paper and spit to get the worst of the makeup off, but apparently the stuff she'd used was waterproof, and the look she was currently sporting was 'lazy goth' at best.

Racing out the door, she hurried down the steps, going so fast that she didn't even notice the patch of ice that had formed when the temperature dropped overnight. Her feet went out from under her, going so high they actually cleared her head, and she went down the last three steps on her back. Groaning, she came to rest on the sidewalk at the bottom. Her backpack had come open, and the sandwich she had made the night before lay half in a filthy puddle.

_Well, at least there's still a half left. 5-second rule…_

Before she could do anything about it, a passing dog snatched up the dry half, leaving April with the half still floating in the water. Sighing, she packed her books back into her bag with her laptop and headed toward the subway, digging into her pocket for her Metrocard. It took a moment to pull it free, but as she yanked it out on her way toward the subway steps, a sudden gust of wind snatched it out of her hand. Crying out, April chased it down the sidewalk, and had almost caught up with it when the wind died abruptly, sending it straight down a sewer grate.

April stared agape at the grate for a moment before throwing her hands skyward. "Oh, come  _on!_ '

But there was no answer from the sky. Except for a drizzle of freezing rain.

* * *

The walk to school was long and interminable, but she straggled through the doors around lunch time. Sniffling, April made her way to the office for a late-slip, thanking heaven for small favours that the student receptionist was on duty to cover the staff lunch breaks. The usual receptionist delighted in torturing late students.

Said student receptionist peered over her glasses at April, who stood shivering and dripping on the carpet. "Nice look," the receptionist said finally.

April winced. "Thanks, Irma." She sneezed loudly.

"Did I just hear the sound of April O'Neil's dulcet voice?" April cringed as Mr. Nelson stuck his head around the doorway. "You missed a make-up test, young lady." He lifted a brow as he took in her appearance. She could only imagine what the dark smears around her eyes looked like with the rain added to them.

"What?" The principal appeared behind Mr. Nelson, who at least looked surprised to see him. "Again? That is  _it_ , young lady. My office. Now!"

Hanging her head, April followed the principal into the office, and the door closed behind her with a slam not unlike that of the door to a prison cell.

* * *

One severe bawling out, several promises of detention, a phone call home to her aunt's voice mail, and an endless math class later, April trudged through the rain back up her street. She sniffled, wiping wet drizzle from her eyes. At least, she  _told_  herself it was the freezing rain. She walked up the front steps, careful not to slip on the icy patch again, and reached the front door, digging into her backpack for her keys. Frowning, she dug further. But she couldn't find them. Couldn't even hear the jingling that told her they were there.

And then, with a cold wash of horror, a perfect mental image came to her of her keys, sitting in the dish by the front door. With the wallet she hadn't been able to find when she'd tried to buy lunch in the cafeteria. She let out a howl, startling the old lady passing on the sidewalk behind her, as she let her forehead thunk against the door.

No matter. She was a  _kunoichi_. Almost. She didn't need  _doors._

She slipped on the icy patch again going back down the steps, gaining a nice bruise for her shin this time. Muttering under her breath, she limped around the side of the building to the fire escape. April crouched down, breathing evenly, carefully gauging the distance to the ladder before she leaped, fingers outstretched.

Ordinarily, she could have made the jump no problem. But the freezing rain had been going on all day, and as she grabbed the ladder and let her weight pull it downward, her fingers slipped off the ice-coated rungs and sent her sprawling, her head colliding painfully with the concrete as her backpack went flying for the second time that day. Blinking, she gazed up dazedly, and screamed as the ice-weakened joints holding the ladder to the fire escape gave way, sending several pounds of wrought-iron hurtling straight toward her head.

Her training kicked in before her brain did and she scissored her legs, flinging herself out of the way just before the ladder crashed down where she'd been lying. She staggered backward toward the mouth of the alley, staring in horror at the ladder. Her heart beating so hard she thought her chest would burst, she had a moment to appreciate the sight of her laptop, which had come out of her bag when she fell. It sat in a puddle with the ladder on top of it, its yellow casing irrevocably crushed.

Then a semi passed by behind her. The storm drain on her street had clogged, and the force of the truck passing through the massive pool that had formed on top of the clogged drain send a cascade of filthy, ice-covered drain water crashing over her like a tsunami.

She stood there for a moment, blinking as the freezing water dripped from her bangs, before allowing herself to sink down to the floor of the alley, bury her head against her knees, and have herself a good, solid cry.

Once that was out of her system, she quietly hauled the sorry remains of her laptop out from under the ladder, gathered her things, stowed them in her backpack, picked them up again because the bottom had ripped out of the pack and they fell straight through, and turned her back on the building.

There was only one thing that could save this day now.

Some people would think that walking through a sewer was the worst possible ending to a horrible day, but as April made her way through the tunnels, she could feel hope welling in her with every step. As she reached the abandoned station, she was almost running, hoping beyond hope that the one she sought was waiting for her.

And he was.

She eased herself quietly through the turnstiles, setting the pathetic heap of her things down on the floor and walking past it, until she stood at the bottom of the stairs. She hugged her arms around herself, shivering, starving, and thoroughly miserable as she dripped dirty drain water onto the floor.

He noticed her a moment later. His blue eyes widening, he hit pause on the game controller he held and set it aside, walking solemnly over to where she stood. He looked her up and down once, a thoughtful look on his face, before he held up both hands and twitched his fingers at her.

Sniffling, April obediently lifted her arms away from her sides.

He was on her in an instant, his grip around her waist driving the air out of her as her feet left the ground. Shaking, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head against him.

"I had a bad day," she whined, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

"I can see that," Mikey said, with absolutely no trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Turning on his heel, he padded toward the kitchen, April's dangling feet gently bumping his shins as he walked. He set her down carefully on the table, patting her on the head before putting the kettle on to boil. Then he pulled out a stool and sat next to her, propping his chin on his hands and gazing up at her. "It's okay. Mikey's here now. Tell me all about it."

Taking a deep, shaking breath, April poured out the entire story of her awful, wretched day to him. He listened without commenting, keeping his attention on her so long it actually surprised her. When she finished, he nodded sagely, rose, and took the kettle off the burner.

"You need more than tea," he said.

She let out a little squeak as he picked her up again, toddling out of the room like a child with an oversized doll. "Sensei!" he called as he pushed through the curtain over the doorway. " _Can we have a sleepover?_ "

There was a brief pause before the weary voice from inside the dojo called, " _What does April's aunt say?_ "

" _She's out of town!_ "

Another brief pause. " _Fine! But no sugar after ten!_   _And if you wake me up after midnight again, training starts at five a.m. for both of you!_ "

" _Thanks, Sensei!_ " Mikey hadn't paused during the shouted conversation, and now deposited April outside the bathroom door. "You go get clean and warm. We'll take care of the rest."

April looked down at her ruined clothes. "But-"

He crossed his arms. "Trust me. Get in there."

Smiling, she obeyed him. As she closed the door behind her, she heard his bellow echoing through the lair. " _Guys, get in here! It's an emergency!_ "

* * *

April took her time in the shower. It was going to take a while to wash the day away. And it took even longer for her to actually feel warm again. But when she finally, reluctantly turned off the water and stepped out, she found a bag hanging on the inside of the locked bathroom door.

_Freaking ninjas._

But she smiled as she opened the bag and saw her hair brush, some overnight supplies, and her warmest pyjamas sitting at the very top.

Emerging a few minutes later, still limping a little from her bruises and attempting to wrestle her brush through her tangled hair, she found Mikey sitting on the floor waiting for her. He bounded to his feet, grabbing her around the waist and flinging her over his shoulder.

"Whoa!" she cried, grabbing onto his belt for support. "Where are-" she paused as the smell hit her, and her stomach growled in response. "Do I smell pizza gyoza?"

"Yup!" Mikey said cheerfully as he trotted toward the common area. "And ramen, and karage, and katsu don. And we've got sundae stuff for dessert. Heavy on the chocolate."

"Where did you get ice cream stuff?" she asked.

"We broke into the really nice homemade ice cream truck that parks near your building. Don't worry, we left money. And a big tip. We have lots of change that falls through the grate."

"Huh."

April let out a whoosh of air as Mikey dumped her onto a pile of cushions on the bench. Dropping down next to her, he grabbed her hands. "Okay, so it took some doing to get it, but for the entertainment portion of our evening, we have-" he reached behind him and then held out his hand dramatically. Bemused, April took the DVD he held, her eyes widening.

"Is that ' _All You Need Is Love'_?"

"Uh-huh," said Mikey. "The funniest, happiest, mushiest movie ever made!"

"Oh, no!" said an angry voice behind them. April turned to look at Raph as he jumped down into the pit. "No! I'll go along with the other stuff, but if you think I'm gonna sit here while you watch that schmaltzy, sappy-"

Mikey stood, his expression as forbidding as April had ever seen it, and gestured sharply at April. She looked up at Raph, her eyes huge, and gave an obliging little sniff.

Raph groaned, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "Fine," he muttered.

Mikey coughed pointedly. Glaring, Raph stormed over to April and pulled something from behind his back, thrusting it in her general direction. Blinking in surprise, she found herself staring down at Titian. She took him from Raph, wrapping her arms around the stuffed turtle, and Raph stormed off to the opposite corner of the pit, dropping down onto the bench with his arms crossed and a dark expression on his face.

Leo stepped down into the pit, patting Raph on the head as he passed and ducking his brother's retaliatory swipe, never even spilling a drop of tea from the mug he carried. He handed it to April and took the brush out of her hand, moving to sit on the ledge behind her. Without a word, he carefully set about combing the snarls out of her hair, his hands steady and gentle on her sore head.

Only as she was blowing on the hot tea did she notice Donnie, quietly off to himself in one corner, an array of tools spread out next to him. He was frowning in concentration at something he held in his lap, his tongue protruding slightly as he worked, a tiny screwdriver held in his enormous hand.

April gasped, and all three brothers turned to look at her, but she was staring at the thing Donnie held. "Is that my laptop?"

"Huh?" Donnie looked down. "Oh, yeah. The casing was totaled, but I had an almost-new one I was gonna use to upgrade mine, so I just transferred yours into that. Your motherboard was pretty much shot, so I replaced it, but your hard drive looked okay. I'm drying it out in some rice right now, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to recover all the data and-" he broke off, staring at April in horror. "I'm sorry! What did I say?"

April started, only then becoming aware of the tears running down her face. But it was Mikey who patted April on the head and said, "it's okay, Donnie. Those are happy tears."

* * *

Several hours later, gorged on Japanese food and sundaes, happily exhausted from laughing and weeping in turns at the movie, April opened her eyes. She hadn't remembered falling asleep, and it took her a few minutes to get her bearings.

Mikey was beneath her, lying face-down on the bench, and she was draped across his shell, her head pillowed on Titian. Donnie sat on floor right next to them, leaning against the bench with his head resting on Mikey's dangling arm, a blanket spread across his lap. Gentle snores came from both brothers, and a louder snore from behind her drew her attention to Raph. He sprawled on the ledge behind her, curled on his side. There was a pillow under his head, and another blanket over him, though one of his arms dangled from beneath it, his hand resting on Mikey's shell near April's head.

A soft sound made her turn back to the pit, and she found herself looking up at Leo. He smiled at her as he unfolded the blanket he carried and draped it over her and Mikey both. Mikey shifted at the sudden warmth, murmuring something about pizza. She exchanged an understanding older sibling look with Leo, and he stretched out his hand to stroke her hair. "Goodnight, April," he whispered.

"'Night," she whispered back.

He picked up a pillow and carefully wedged it between her and the back of the bench. Then he lay down, resting his head on the pillow and effectively sandwiching her between himself and Mikey. As his arm came around her over the blanket, April let out a happy sigh. Leo was more behind than on top of her, his arm ensuring that she wouldn't fall, his solid weight enough to be reassuring without being uncomfortable. And this feeling of being surrounded by her turtles… felt just right.

She dozed briefly and woke once more, four voices now filling the air with a chorus of light snoring. In the dimness of the nighttime lair, she could just make out the towering shape in the darkness that unfolded another blanket to lay over the sleeping Leo.

"G'night,  _Sensei,_ " April whispered, as quietly as she could.

Splinter rested his hand gently on her head before taking himself back to his own room. Letting out a deep, contented breath, April allowed her eyes to drift closed again as the warmth, and safety, and security of her nest of ninjas enveloped her. She was safe from all the bad things here. Her loving, generous, big-hearted brothers would never let anything bad touch her now.

And her very last thought, as she drifted off with the others, was one of wonder, that a day that had started out so horribly wrong could end so completely and utterly…

…perfect.

* * *

"[Mikey Hugs for a Bad Day](http://jasjuliet.tumblr.com/post/47313658076/mikey-hugs-for-a-bad-day-i-finished-reading)" by Jasjuliet

"[Turtlepile](http://orangeandbluecream.tumblr.com/post/68131689280/this-is-for-fantasiawanderings-story-called-april)" by Orangeandbluecream

 

"[Turtlepile](http://silveraspenriver.tumblr.com/post/47591766078/heres-the-end-scene-from-aprils-no-good-very#notes)" by Silveraspenriver

"[Unique Family](http://mopjeflauwmopje.deviantart.com/art/Unique-Family-373016262)" by mopjeflauwmopje


	21. Sonar (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Raph and Donnie search for parts, and Raph ensures that his brother is not disturbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This interlude had an interesting genesis. It was inspired by a question from nicollini on tumblr, who wanted to know my take on the relationship between Donnie and Raph. That led to an interlude for Designatedtoaster's birthday that is basically things I find the hardest: Donnie stream of consciousness and Raph POV. Here is the result.

 

**Sonar (an interlude)**

* * *

 

"…but the life cycle of the common  _Blatella_  species is really  _quite_ fascinating; the incomplete metamorphosis enables the growing instars—"

Raph sighed, placing his hand on his head. "Donnie. Nothing you say is gonna get me to accept that cockroaches are cool. I don't like 'em when they're running around the lair, I don't like 'em when they're fused with rats into some monster out of a bad horror movie, I just… don't, okay? Save your breath."

Donatello stared at him for a moment, one hand toying with the tape on a finger of the other. And then a look Raph knew all too well spread across his brother's face. "But if you really  _understood_  them, then you'd come to see that they're really an incredible…"

Groaning, Raph tuned him out, knowing from experience that he had a good ten, fifteen minutes, maybe, to let Donnie babble before he realized that Raph had stopped paying attention.

Cockroaches. Seriously. He hadn't liked them  _before_  the whole ratroach thing, and he  _certainly_  didn't like them now. But Donnie just couldn't take the hint sometimes when someone wasn't in to the same stuff he was. Raph walked around a junk pile, frowning in irritation, letting Donnie continue to dig through the trash he was currently occupied with.

Case in point. If Donnie found something that interested him in that pile, he'd show it to Raph and explain all about what he was going to turn it into. Nevermind the fact that half of what Donnie said sounded like a different language sometimes. He never slowed down enough to know when Raph wasn't following him any more. Mikey, at least, he stopped for. But for Raph… Donnie just expected him to  _understand_.

He noted that Donnie's stream of chatter had stopped, and he poked his head back around the pile. His eyes widened suddenly. "Stop. Right. There!"

Donatello stepped back from the rusted-out framework of the minivan he'd been prodding thoughtfully. "What?"

"No," Raph said, planting his hands on his hips. "The washer/dryer was bad. The  _Kraang droid_  was bad. But if you think I'm helping you drag a  _van_ back to the lair, you are  _sorely_ mistaken, pal. You already have a subway car! Leave the van alone!"

"Oh, come on—" Donnie began to protest, but Raph had already retreated around the junk pile again, shaking his head. Donnie  _always_  asked for his help on these little field trips. Wherein 'help' usually meant 'carry this heavy thing home.'

He kicked a can sitting in his path and looked up, frowning. The babbling had stopped again. "What exactly are you looking for, anyway?"

"Oh, I was hoping to find a drive casing to replace the cracked console—"

_Ah. There you are. Below and to the left. Fastest way to get there is over the top of that pile there._

Satisfied, Raph let the nattering continue and resumed his exploration around the junkyard. As Donnie's voice rose, indicating that he'd found something particularly important, Raph noticed the shadow ghosting around one of the mounds to his right.

Quietly drawing his sai, he slipped around the trash tower from the other side and took care of it.

When he returned, the chatter had died down again, and he rolled his eyes in exasperation. "So. Any good messages from your  _girlf_ riend lately?"

"She's  _not_  my girlfriend, Raph, and as a matter of fact, she sent me this fascinating article on the nutrient cycles of—"

_Got you. Ten o'clock, behind the bulldozer. Go around the pile clockwise._

Figuring that would keep Donnie going for a while, Raph poked at the pile in front of him with a sai. Maybe he'd find something useful in here one day. Maybe a motorcycle. He'd always kind of wanted one. Not sure what he'd do with it, but it seemed fun. Maybe if—

Two shadows moved around the wreck of another car on his three o'clock, and Raph faded away again, sai in hand. A few minutes later, he returned to his position, yanking out an arrow from where it had wedged between the scutes on his shell. He scowled.  _Dammit, Donnie._  "So basically, she's an even bigger dork than you are."

"She is  _not_ a dork! She's smart, and wonderful, and I can't help it if she understands the importance of mold cycles, unlike  _some_  people I could mention—"

_Ahead of you on the right. Fastest route is through the van._

He shook his head, picking up an old, broken toaster and toying absently with the exposed heating coils on the top. After a minute, he tucked it under his arm. Might come in handy, you never—

Three shapes, closing in on the source of the chatter.

Raph set the toaster down. An instant later, three shuriken flew silently through the night, and a blunt strike to the head brought each distracted shadow quickly and efficiently down. No fuss. No mess. Donnie's busy. He doesn't need to be disturbed.

Scowling, Raph dropped the last of the three new ones on top of the growing pile of Foot soldiers he'd hidden behind the biggest trash mountain. That had better be the last of them. It was getting really annoying, trying to spot them while still keeping track of—

_Wait. It's quiet._

"Donnie? Find something interesting?" He struggled to the top of the pile, scanning the junkyard. "Donnie?" His eyes wide, he searched in growing desperation. Where? Where the  _hell_?

" _Donnie!_ "

" _What?_ Geez, Raph, why don't you yell a little louder, I think there's some folks out in Jersey who didn't hear you. Might I remind you that when practicing the ancient art of-"

_Six o'clock. Straight down the hill. Found you._

Raph slid down the trash mound, picking up the toaster on the way and handing it to Donnie as he joined him. Donatello took the toaster, eyeing it with a discerning glance before stowing it in the bag he'd been using to collect his spare parts.

"What about you?" Donnie grabbed the bag, tugging on it. "Did you…find something….interesting?" He managed to budge the bag about an inch. Raph rolled his eyes. Donnie was hopeless sometimes.

"Nothing much. Some pests. Got some target practice in." He shouldered Donatello aside and grabbed the bag, wheezing as he tossed it over his shoulder. "Cripes, Donnie, whaddya got in here, bricks?" Donatello said nothing, but his expression said it all. Raph's eyes widened. "Oh, for the love of  _pete,_ Donnie _._ "

"They're good for holding up the patrol buggies when I'm doing maintenance," Donnie protested.

Raph glared at him, a low growl forming in his throat. Hurriedly, Donnie backed away, his hands up. "We can leave them if you want. I just thought— Oh! Hang on a sec…" He dug into his shell and pulled out a small electrical device. "Look what I found! I think I can get it working pretty easy. Was this the one you were talking about?"

Sighing, Raph looked at the thing in Donnie's hands, and his eyes grew wide as a look of astonishment spread across his face. "Is that the new Captain Cadaver game? What the heck is it doing in the trash?"

"Faulty connection leads on the buttons is my thinking. Easy fix." Donnie grinned at him. "Thought you might like it."

"Donnie, that's awesome!" Raph shouldering the bag more securely, beaming at his brother. "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome," said Donnie, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

"And hey, look at that, this one's a handheld.  _You_  can carry that one. Unlike the table hockey game…or Space Heroes...or Atomic Robo-X…"

"You  _like_  those games," Donnie said, leading the way back through the junkyard.

"I'd better.  _I'm_ the one who had to carry them all the way to the lair."

"I said I'd help!"

"You try to help and you end up making things— Whoa!"

Donnie paused, about to head around a tall mountain of garbage. "What?"

"Not that way. There's trash on the other side of it. Go the long way."

Donnie raised a brow at him and gave him a  _look_. "It's a junkyard, Raph. It's made of trash."

"This is bad trash. Just shut up and go around."

Donnie shook his head, but did as Raph said, and Raph heaved a sigh of relief. The pile of Foot would remain safely hidden. Not that Donnie couldn't handle knowing the Foot had been in the junkyard, but his brother was in a really good mood right now, and it would be a shame to spoil it. Because he was the kind of brother who deserved better than that.

Donnie was the kind of brother who deserved the best. And had to make do with the garbage that society threw away. And then he made the best out of it anyway.

Because that was the thing. As much as he talked over Raph's head, Donnie also  _listened_. Donnie remembered that Raph had made a comment about the Captain Cadaver game weeks ago after coming across an ad in one of his comics. And Donnie was the one who thought nothing of spending hours, sometimes days, fixing old, hopelessly broken-down games and getting them up and working again. Not because Donnie particularly enjoyed them. But because his brother did.

Even if that brother  _was_ the one who usually had to carry the heavy ones.

And if Raph could keep Donnie safe and uninterrupted while he worked? Then he was happy to do so. And he'd do his damndest to make sure Donnie never found out.

The talking wasn't so bad. Sometimes, it was actually really useful.

Raph looked around and bit back an exclamation. Donnie had gotten ahead of him again. He couldn't see him. "Whatsa matter, Donnie? Get lost?"

"No, I did not get  _lost_! And I'll have you know, not only is my sense of direction impeccable, but the tracking application I installed on the Tphones—"

_Five o'clock, above you, go through the valley._

Smiling in satisfaction, Raph followed the stream of chatter back to his little brother.

* * *

[Sonar](http://mizuinu.tumblr.com/post/97437752792/love-you) by Mizuinu


	22. Kumihimo (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April has nighmares, Leo gets in some skills practice, and some unfortunate planter is missing its flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place just after "The Alien Agenda." It's an idea I had for a while that Leo and April have late-night gossip sessions, but after seeing "New Girl in Town," that pretty much confirmed it. Happy Birthday, Katie.

 

**Interlude: Kumihimo**

* * *

 

Leo sighed, staring at the ceiling above his bed. He couldn't sleep, as much as the events of the day had exhausted him. He felt so… stupid. And hurt. And lost. Turning on his side, he sighed again. He supposed he could go to Splinter if he needed to talk, but that didn't feel right. He was still too embarrassed, and also kind of afraid of getting hit with his  _sensei_ 's stick again. He gave a frustrated groan and rolled to his feet, heading toward the dojo for his weapons. No, there was really only one person he could talk to right now, but he had a feeling he was going to have to do some serious groveling first.

* * *

April let out a hiss of pain, lowering the brush she'd been trying to get through her hair. It wasn't easy with the rapidly purpling bruise spreading across her shoulder. She sighed, glaring at her reflection in the mirror. In the tank top that came with her current pair of pyjamas, the bruises on her arm and shoulder were particularly evident.

A frantic tapping from outside interrupted her, and she rolled her eyes before going to the window. Opening it quickly, she folded her arms and glared at the turtle on her fire escape. "What do you want, Leo?"

He lowered his head, peeking up at her, his forefingers toying with each other. "Soooo…. you were right." He reached behind his shell and pulled out a bouquet of daffodils, offering them silently to her.

She looked at them, a brow raised. "Did you pick these out of the flowerbed in the park?"

He regarded her for a moment. "…yes."

April sighed and grabbed the bouquet. "Come in, you idiot." And she went off to find a vase for the flowers, leaving Leo to shut the window behind them. When she returned, flowers in hand, he was sitting on her bed looking like a beaten puppy. She plunked the flowers on her bedside table and sat down on the bed, one leg tucked underneath her, glaring at him. She was still annoyed, even with the apology he'd given them in the lair that evening.

"April, I—" he began, but his eyes widened and he broke off as he got a good look at her. He reached out, gently taking hold of her hand and pulling it toward him so he could examine the bruising on her arm. Then he caught sight of the ugly purple swelling on her shoulder, and looked at her in dismay. "Did that happen today?"

"Yeah," she said, pulling her hand back. "Ms. Campbell's got quite a grip on her." She shrugged, wincing as it pulled the bruises. "And then she threw me into a trophy case." She couldn't help grinning a little as she added, "she tried to punch my face in, but I totally dodged it!"

Leo's look of dismay faded as he grinned at her. "Splinter training?"

"Yup!" she said proudly. "Wasn't even close."

"Good one," he said. "Splinter's gonna make a kunoichi of you yet."

She shrugged, suddenly inexplicably bashful, and picked up her brush from the bedside table again. "Yeah, well…" She attempted to pull the brush through her hair, forgetting how much it hurt to try to raise her arm, and let out a small squeak of pain.

A green hand instantly plucked the brush out of hers, and Leo looked at her, a question in his eyes. "Can I… can I help?"

She was about to brush him off, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the look in his eyes, or maybe it was the "feelings" Splinter kept telling her she had and would be able to reliably use someday, but it reminded her that hair wasn't a thing he had much experience with, aside from Splinter, and  _Sensei_ 's hair was nothing like hers. She'd be curious, too. Her expression softening a little, she nodded and moved in front of him.

His touch was hesitant at first, moving through the hair over her shoulders, stroking it a little like you'd pet a cat. "How does it… work?" he asked hesitantly.

April couldn't help but smile a bit at that. "It doesn't, really. It just sits there."

"But Splinter's fur doesn't get that long. His just stops. Is this where yours stops?"

"Not really," she said. "It'll keep growing if I let it, but I like it this length, so I cut it."

"You do it yourself?" He began to pull the brush through her hair. She winced a little as he yanked and he stopped, immediately gentling his strokes as he started again. "Does it hurt when you cut it?"

"No," she said. "I go to a hairdresser and they cut it for me. The only place where there's any feeling is where it joins my head. That's why it hurts if you pull it." She craned her neck, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Why so curious all of a sudden?"

He gave her a sheepish look, and gently nudged her head back so he could reach her hair properly. "Not all of a sudden. I've always wondered. Ever since…" He coughed, and embarrassed little noise. "Since Lieutenant Virtue."

April tried to hold in a snicker, and almost succeeded. "Yeah. Teal is not so much a colour found in human hair in nature. I'm pretty sure that's a wig."

"Oh, it is," Leo said brightly. "There's a whole story behind it. It's because Amrita Kulkarni got mad at the producers and cut all her hair off and the producers wrote her metamorphosis and hair colour change into the show because the teal wig was the only one they had on hand and they needed Virtue to have long hair." His enthusiasm was palpable, and she found herself grinning in response. His hands stilled, and she felt him pick up a lock of her hair. "April? Why do people braid hair?"

Her brow furrowed a little. "I dunno. To keep it out of the way. Because it looks nice." She shrugged. "It always seemed like a lot of work to me."

"Can I… can I try?"

She actually turned at that, twisting to face him. "Sorry, Leo, but how do  _you_  know about braiding?"

Colour tinted his cheeks, and he toyed with her hairbrush. "When I was little and we learned about samurai, I decided I was gonna _be_  one when I grew up, and one of the things I decided I needed to learn if I was gonna be a samurai was  _kumihimo_." At her confused look, he elaborated. "Braiding for samurai armour." He gave his hand a rueful look. "I didn't have the right tools, and learning to do it with three fingers was a nightmare, but I  _was_  pretty stubborn."

" _Was_?" April teased, but smiled at him and went to the dresser, returning with a handful of elastics and a hair ribbon. "Knock yourself out."

Leo made a delighted little sound and resumed brushing her hair. After a moment, he put the brush down, and she felt him beginning to section off her hair. There was a few minutes of silence as he concentrated, apart from the occasional muttered, "no, no that doesn't work at all," as he braided, unbraided, and started again, but after a little while, she felt him fall into a rhythm.

Curious to see what he was doing, April shifted until she could see their reflection in her dresser mirror. Leo was staring at the orange strands falling through his fingers as he worked. "Yours is all one colour," he mused thoughtfully. "But Karai's is yellow on the bottom."

Her smile slipped away, and she stiffened. "Pretty sure that's a dye job," she said coldly.

Leo sighed. "April, I'm sorry," he said. "I should have listened."

"Darn right you should," she retorted. But a moment later, she shook her head, and reached a hand back to rest on his. "And I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way."

The expression on his face broke her heart a little as he tied off one braid with an elastic and sectioned off another piece. "I trusted her," he said darkly. "That's what hurts most. I trusted her, and she left us to die with that monster."

"Justin?" April asked softly.

"Justin," he confirmed. "She's the one who made him in the first place, but she left us to deal with that mess."

She smiled. "But you took care of it, right big bro?"

He tied off his second braid, and she watched pride creep across his features. "I sure did."

"Like Captain Ryan fighting an alien monster?"

He grinned a little at that. "Kinda, yeah!" He shook his head. "Man, that thing was weird." He tied off another braid, and April wondered idly if she had much hair left to go as he picked up another lock of it.

"So what was it exactly?" April asked, picking Titian up from the bed next to her and toying with his mask tails. "Mikey wasn't exactly clear on that part."

"There wasn't much to be clear  _on,_ " Leo said. "It was a jellyfish octopus cat potato bug…thing." He finished off another braid and picked up the ribbon. "With electric shock powers."

April shuddered. "Like the ratroaches?"

"Worse," Leo said. "This was projectile." He began doing something with the many little braids he'd made and the hair ribbon. She craned her neck, trying to see what was going on back there in the mirror, but he tapped her lightly on the head. "Stop that, you'll make me mess it up."

"So how did you beat it once Karai ditched you?"

His tongue was sticking out of his mouth, he was concentrating so hard. "Huh? Oh, when it threw the lightning at me, I turned my katana into a lightning rod and blew up the experiment console and Justin along with it." He gave her a very Captain Ryan-esque look. "Mighta destroyed the entire building while I was at it. No more global Kraang experiment."

April hugged Titian, regarding his reflection in awe. "Leo… that's actually kinda cool."

"Yeah," he said, with a little smile. "It was a little cool." He moved another braid into whatever he was doing, and his smile faded. "I just wish…" He trailed off into silence, but it wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking.

"Karai?"

He sighed. "It's just… aside from you? She's the only girl who's gotten a good look at this face—" he gestured at himself "—and  _not_ run away screaming. I just wish…" He bit his lip, and shook his head. "I just wish. That's all."

April didn't really know what to say to that. Her reflexive response, to say that he was too good for Karai and that there were plenty of fish in the sea, was only half true. He  _was_  too good for Karai. But romantic prospects for a fifteen-year-old mutant turtle weren't great, and both of them knew it. Instead, she turned around and laid a hand on her brother's cheek. "I love you, Leo."

He smiled at her, pressing his hand over hers for a moment. "Love you, too." He lowered his hand and nudged her. "Go look at your hair."

With a squeak of anticipation, April ran to her dresser and pulled a hand mirror out of her drawer, turning her back to the mirror and looking into the smaller one so that she could see Leo's handiwork reflected in the big mirror.

What she saw took her breath away. She'd expected a tangled mess, but instead, he'd created an intricate weaving of braids of different sizes, some with three strands, some with four, and the ribbon wove in and out of the lot of it, binding it all together. It was beautiful. It made her look… like a princess.

She set the mirror down and whirled in place. She met his anticipatory expression with a beaming smile and raced toward the bed, launching herself at him when she was still several feet away. His eyes widened and he opened his arms, catching her as she hit him with a force that drove both of them back to the pillows. Her eyes watered from the pain of the impact on her bruised shoulder, but she didn't care.

"I love it," she said as she buried her head against him. She felt the chuckle rumble through his chest as he stroked her braided hair gently.

"I'm glad," he said, and held her close. "I should probably go and let you get some sleep."

"Sleep is good," she murmured, as the soothing motions of his hand over her hair brushed the tension from her muscles and finally let her relax. "But don't go. Please?"

The encounter with Ms. Campbell had scared her more than she cared to admit. The Kraang knew her name. They knew where her school was. And if they ever managed to figure out school records, they'd know where she lived, too. Fortunately, they still seemed pretty clueless about how human society worked, and the only human they knew of who worked with them to help them navigate the ins and outs of human nature had been turned into a weed monster by her boys, but still. It was scary. And it was nice to have a strong, deadly, loving turtle brother by your side to chase the fears away.

And Leo, being Leo, knew all of that without her having to say any of it. He just reached back, shifting a pillow to cradle them both, and gave her a soft, "Okay."

She closed her eyes in gratitude, and heard him take out his Tphone and type something into it, no doubt a text to one of the guys telling them where he was. Then his hand was back on her hair, gentle, soothing, reminding her that she wasn't alone in this. That Leo had her back.

And even if another awesome kunoichi came along, who could hold her own against Leo and not run away screaming, April was certain of one thing.

Her ichiban turtle would always have her back.

"G'night Leo," she whispered.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered back.

And because she lay protected in the arms of her brother as she slipped away into dreamland, they were.

* * *

 

"[Sleepover](http://nanodraws.tumblr.com/post/71673777606/my-gift-for-powderakacaseyjones-on-da-for-the-tmnt)" by nanodraws

"[Brushing](http://melty94.tumblr.com/post/63286632474/headcanon-leo-likes-brushing-aprils-hair)" by melty94

"[Kumihimo](http://skyecrystal.tumblr.com/post/48189352420/littles-sketches-from-the-last-interlude-of)" by skyecrystal

"[Kumihimo](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/95198532941/chapter-kumihimo-of-falling)" by Ruslanan


	23. Scars (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a family compares scars and April learns about the stories they tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This interlude takes place immediately after "Karai's Vendetta."

 

**Scars (an interlude)**

* * *

 

April let out a muffled whimper as her third attempt to bring the brush to her hair ended in failure. This was a million times worse than after Ms. Campbell. She frowned at her reflection, watching it blur briefly before she angrily scrubbed away the tears of frustration.

She had been so proud as she had recounted her triumph over Karai to the boys. But Splinter's declaration had knocked the wind out of her sails pretty quickly, and now she hurt. Every inch of her hurt. The boys had been good enough to go and retrieve her pyjamas from her room at her aunt's house, but they'd grabbed a set with a tank top, and it left the aftermath of her fight with Karai on painfully obvious display. Her arms were a mass of purple and black, as were her legs, her ribs, and her back beneath her clothing. Her back hurt especially badly when she moved, and her wrist was a royal mess. Just trying to keep a good hold on her hairbrush brought tears of pain springing to her eyes.

For that matter, even her hair hurt where Karai had pulled it. And worst of all, she had managed to cut her hand open on her own tessen. With another quiet cry, she let the hairbrush drop down on the counter and sank to the floor in a defeated heap.

"April?" Came a quiet voice from the doorway.

"Gyaaah!" she yelped, bringing her hands up to cover herself instinctively, despite the fact that she was fully covered by her pyjamas. The sharp movement sent another wave of pain through her myriad injuries, and she hissed, squinting her eyes closed against it. "Freaking  _ninjas_ ," she muttered, and glared up at her brothers. "Picking the lock on a bathroom door is  _not_  cool, guys."

"Sorry," Leo said sheepishly. "You sounded like you were hurt."

"You were  _listening at the door?"_

"We were worried," he corrected. Mikey, peeking around Leo's shell from behind, nodded emphatically.

With a sigh of defeat, April levered herself back to her feet. "Everything hurts," she admitted. "Pretty bad. I can't even hold the stupid hairbrush."

Leo took in the vivid bruising on her arms with an appraising glance and nodded. He approached her slowly, holding out his hand in silent command, his expression not leaving any room for disagreement. Sighing, April placed her hand in his, surrendering as his large fingers curled around hers and she let him help her to her feet. Picking up her brush from the counter, he placed his other hand at her back, gently guiding her to the pit. "Come on," he said, with quiet warmth in his voice. "You need to have Donnie take a look at you."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Mikey said, and let out a yelp as Leo whacked him. " _What?"_

Leo shook his head, and pulled April into the common area, where Donnie and Raph were busy bringing blankets and pillows for April to sleep on until they could figure out a better arrangement. Donnie took one look at April and a dark look spread across his face. He turned, vanishing into his lab. Raph looked similarly upset, but he just threw the pillow he was holding down onto the bench and stormed off to hit the practice dummy for a while.

"I'll go make some tea," Leo said, heading off to the kitchen and leaving April with Mikey.

She looked at him in distress. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Nah." Mikey plonked himself down on the bench and gently pulled her down next to him. "They're just mad that you got hurt." He gestured at the dark marks covering her skin. "You show it a lot, but we couldn't really see it before."

She gave him a rueful look, glancing at the cut on her hand. "Bruises tend to take a while to show up." She sighed. "Heck, even I didn't realize how bad it was until the adrenaline wore off. I just…"

"What?" Mikey asked.

"I just wish I'd been  _better_. I shouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Hey. Everybody gets hurt." He patted her hand. "We all get hurt all the time. Even Mr. Tough Guy over there." He gestured over his shoulder at Raph. "And this was your first fight! Against  _Karai_ , who's been fighting  _way_  longer than you. Sister, you did great!"

April smiled, looking down at the cut on her hand. "Yeah. But my first battle scar is gonna be one I got from my own tessen." Seriously, how stupid was that? She didn't even have a cool story to tell; the truth was way too embarrassing.

Mikey carefully picked up her hand, making a big show of examining it. "Pssh," he said at last. "That's nothing. Check  _this_  out."

He reached up and tugged down the pad from around his elbow, and April let out a sharp gasp. It was loud enough that Raph paused in what he was doing, until he caught sight of Mikey and resumed his abuse of the practice dummy with a roll of his eyes.

Michelangelo's arm was a mass of white scar tissue just above the elbow. April reached out a tentative hand, but the wound was long healed. "Mikey," she breathed. "What happened?"

"I was teaching myself how to skateboard," he said proudly. "Fell off trying to jump a storm channel and snapped my arm. It was totally wicked! The bone was sticking out and everything!"

"It was  _not_  wicked," came Donnie's soft voice from above April. She glanced up as he dropped down to the bench on her other side, a first aid kit in his hands. "It was terrifying.  _Sensei_  had to patch him up – this was way before I started teaching myself about first aid and stuff – and everyone was scared he'd never be able to use the arm right again."

"Everyone but me," Mikey said proudly.

"Yeah," Raph added, joining them and whapping Mikey upside the head. "You gotta have a brain to be able to worry."

"Hey!"Mikey protested.

"It took a lot of therapy, but he got full use of it back eventually." Donnie picked up April's hand, carefully examining it before he began to close the cut with butterfly bandages. His touch was deft, but gentle, and despite how much the cut had hurt when she was washing up and getting into her pyjamas, she barely felt what Donnie was doing.

Leo arrived as Donnie was finishing up with her cut, sitting gracefully down behind April and handing the cup of tea he was holding to Mikey. "Why is Mikey's nasty elbow on display?"

"We're comparing our first battle scars," Mikey said, with obvious pride in his voice.

April blinked at him. "Is that what we're doing?"

"'Course." Mikey scooted off the bench and sat on the floor, still holding the tea in one hand. The elbow pad dangled from the other, and he set it very deliberately on the floor, keeping his angry scarring on full display as he handed April her tea. She took the cup from him, taking a sip as Donnie continued to work on her, and handed it back to Mikey, who seemed perfectly content to play her cup holder. "You should see Leo's."

"No, she shouldn't." Leo loosened her hair, running his hands through it before he gently began to pull April's brush through the tangled strands.

Donnie looked up at that, one brow raised. "What are you doing?"

"Helping," Leo said mildly. "Check out her wrist when you're done there. I think she sprained it."

" _What?"_  Donnie stuck the last butterfly bandage down and took hold of her hand, deep concern in his brown eyes. "Tell me when it hurts, okay?" Very gently, he began to manipulate her hand, bending and flexing it at the wrist, and her yelps very quickly determined that her range of motion was severely limited. His tongue was sticking out as he concentrated, and in short order, he hummed and let go. "Sprain seems likely," he said, pulling a tension bandage out of the kit and carefully wrapping her wrist with it.

She watched him working on her, a little wistful over the fact that with his clinical detachment, his usual awkwardness around her disappeared. There was care, and gentle affection in his touch, but none of the usual stumbling or hesitation. A small part of her wished he could be like this all the time.

But not if it meant having to get a regular butt-kicking. She could forego that part.

"What about you, Donnie?" she asked. "What's your first battle scar?"

He blinked at her, and his cheeks flushed red. "Oh. Nothing special, really."

A loud bark of laughter from her feet made April jump, and she looked down at Raph. "He's too modest," he said to April, and grabbed Donnie's foot.

"Hey!" Donnie called out, tugging futilely against the strength of Raph's grip. "Cut it out!"

Ignoring his brother, Raph stripped the wraps away from Donnie's ankle, revealing a coin-shaped white patch of skin over which the scales had stopped growing. April stared at it, bemused, before looking from Raph's smug face to Donnie's embarrassed one. "Okay, I'll bite. What the heck did that?"

"Our resident genius here decided he was going to figure out electricity when he was nine or so," Raph said. "Electrocuted himself pretty darn good. That's where the lightning left his foot."

"It wasn't lightning, it was an electrical grounding discharge from a power cable," Donnie muttered, refusing to look at April.

"Looked like lightning," Raph said.

"Sounded like it, too," added Leo, as he continued to pull the brush through April's hair.

" _That_  was scary," Mikey said. "He stopped breathing for a minute, too. But  _Sensei_  was there real fast, and everything ended up okay." He grinned. "Donnie was soooooo grounded."

Donnie let out a disgusted groan. "Mikey, that was a terrible pun."

The youngest brother stared at him, utterly confused. "Who with the what now?"

Smirking, Raph let go of Donnie's foot and moved himself to the seat next to April. Donnie grumbled under his breath and bent over to rewrap his ankle as April took her cup back from Mikey and took another sip of her tea, looking over the edge of the cup at Raph. "What about you?"

Unbidden, her gaze travelled to his shell, coming to rest on the twin notches carved out of his plastron and carapace. She'd always wondered, but been afraid to ask. He didn't miss her glance, and his grin broadened as he shook his head. "Nope. Not the first scar."

"Oh, come on." She handed her tea back to Mikey. "You can't just leave me hanging like that."

"You showed her mine," Donnie added, finishing with his ankle wraps. Leo said nothing, but the rhythm against her head changed as he set the brush aside and began braiding her hair, his touch light, and careful of the sore spots on her scalp.

Sighing, Raph began unwrapping his wrist. "Okay, so when I was young and stupid—"

"You mean younger and stupider," Mikey quipped. Without missing a beat, Raph's hand shot out, grabbing the tails of Mikey's mask and twisting. "Ow! Ow! Uncle! Uncle!"

"— like I was saying," Raph said, "when we were kids, we were all pretty excited about getting to learn to use shuriken. But on the day we were supposed to start training, we got garbage to throw instead."

April raised a brow in confusion. "Garbage?"

"Mostly tin can lids and old ceramic tiles from one of the subway bathrooms," Leo said. "Sometimes origami ones so that we had the right shape, but good paper was pretty scarce down here. _Sensei_  wanted us to learn how to throw them without the whole 'razor sharp edges' part to deal with."

"Exactly," said Raph. "But I was so  _mad_  that we didn't get the real thing. I thought that it meant  _Sensei_ thought we were dumb. Not good enough. So one night, I sneaked into the dojo and stole some of the real ones, and took them out into the tunnels to practice. And I was good.  _Really_  good. Until one of my throws went wide and hit a pipe. Dang thing bounced back and was heading straight for my face."

He finished unwrapping his wrist and held up his arm. A long white scar ran down the side of it, normally hidden. "Got my arm up in time. Saved my face, but dumped a whole lotta blood into the sewer before  _Sensei_  found me and patched me up." He snorted. "I was lucky, too. Any deeper, and I could have damaged the nerves. That would have put a serious crimp in my style when it came to using a sai."

April felt the finished braid thump against her back and she turned, craning her neck to look at Leo. "And what about you, big brother?"

He just smiled at her. "You don't need to see mine."

"Sure I do," she said, twisting futher so she could rest her uninjured hand on his knee. "Come on, Leo."

"Yeah," Donnie said. "We showed her ours."

Leo's face darkened a little. "She doesn't need to see it."

"Yes," came a quiet voice from the shadows of the dojo. "She does."

The brothers turned as one toward their father's voice as he stepped into the light. " _Sensei_ ," Leo said. "Are you sure?"

Splinter descended into the pit, his hands clasped behind his back, and came to stand in front of April. She shrank beneath his gaze, suddenly very aware of the marks marring her skin, each one a testament to her failure to learn his lessons. He reached out without a word, and very gently caught her chin between his fingers, turning her face one way and another so that her bruises caught the light. And then his gaze met hers, and she felt her soul bare to him.

"I am sure," he said, and sat down a short distance from them.

Still looking uncertain, Leo slowly unwound the tape from his right palm and held it out to April. Two semicircles marred each side of his hand. A little line formed between April's brows as she examined them, turning his hand over and over again. "Are..." she hesitated, her thoughts shying away from the evidence in front of her. "Are those bite marks?"

"Yeah," Leo said quietly.

A soft sigh drew April's attention back to Splinter. "I regret to say that on the day of our mutation, there was a moment in which I was...not myself. The pain and the shock of what had happened was so great that my human mind fled, leaving only the animal. And in its fear, the animal turned on the only thing nearby that might have been the cause of its pain." He turned a regretful glance toward his sons.

April caught her breath, biting her lip as her fingers tightened on Leo's hand, but though Donnie and Raph wore serious expressions, Mikey turned an encouraging smile toward his  _sensei_  even as the hand not holding her tea wrapped around April's ankle.

"To this day," Splinter said, "I do not know which of my sons I attacked. But it was Leonardo who came between us. Leonardo's hand that blocked my attack and felt the sting of my teeth instead. In that moment, as I watched the little turtle leap forward to defend his brothers, despite the fact that he was so small, I could have easily torn him to pieces, I returned to myself. His act of honour and bravery reminded me of what it was to be... human."

He stood again, walking over to rest his hand gently against April's hair. "The beauty of scars, my child, is that they do not simply remind us of our mistakes. They also remind us that we are alive. That we are human. That we live, and feel, and hurt, and heal. They stand testament to the experiences that make us who we are, and, in time, they fade." With a gentle stroke against her hair, he turned and headed back toward the dojo. "Try not to stay up too late."

" _Hai, Sensei,"_ came the chorus, April's voice as much a part of it as her brothers'.

Gradually, four turtle bodies settled around her, and the blankets they boys' had brought were spread over them, cocooning April in warmth. Her attention really wasn't on the episode of Space Heroes they were watching, though. It was on the brothers around her, who remained kind, and generous, and gentle, and loving despite their scars. They had opened their home to her, provided her a place to stay, offered their protection, and never asked anything in return. And if the events of the day had left a wound on her heart, the love of the brothers around her surrounded it, and set it to healing.

With a quiet sigh, she rested her head against Donnie's shoulder, and let herself drift into sleep, secure in the knowledge that as long as they sat by her, there would be no new scars to add to her collection. They would watch over her with every breath left in their bodies. Her turtles. Her friends.

Her family.

* * *

"[I got yo teacup](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/I-got-yo-teacup-387769767)" by heartofanalterego

"[Scars](http://jasjuliet.tumblr.com/post/50074807784/a-scene-out-of-fallings-latest-chapter-that-takes)" by Jasjuliet


	24. Petunia the Destroyer (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an origin story is revealed, and Mikey learns not to mess with a girl's dress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very special interlude. Snuffes did one of the first pieces of fanart for Falling, and latched onto one of the action figures in "Serious Business" in a way that made me want to tell that story. It's been in the back of my head ever since I saw her artwork about it, but this was the perfect opportunity to tell it.
> 
> Happy Birthday, Snuffes.

 

**Petunia the Destroyer (An Interlude)**

* * *

 

_"Ha ha! Your puny forest powers are no match for my mastery over the undead! Prepare to face undead possum fury, princess fairy!"_

_"Fool! Your powers of reanimation may work against ordinary villains, but they stand no chance against my radioactive death rays!"_

"No fair, April, that's cheating!"

"No it isn't. Why do you think she glows in the dark."

"...oh."

Leo made his way gingerly down the steps from the dojo, rubbing muscles still aching from his workout with Splinter, and dropped down on the bench next to Donnie. Looking up at the two figures racing around the perimeter of the pit, he raised a brow. "Are they still at it?"

"Yup," Donnie sighed. "Captain Cadaver is holding his own, but I think Petunia might be gaining the upper hand." A doofy grin spread across his face. "She is  _so_  cool."

"Eat fairy death ray!" April cried as she chased Mikey up the steps toward the dojo.

"Why's she dressed so nice?" Leo asked Donnie. He couldn't recall ever seeing her out of her regular clothes, unless it was the hoodie she used for undercover missions. Or her pyjamas. The yellow sundress was new.

Donnie glared at him. "She's  _always_  dressed nice!"

Before Leo had a chance to defend himself, a shout from the ledge drew his attention. "You shall never triumph, Petunia! For I know your greatest weakness!" Mikey struck a pose, his face a mask of sinister glee that immediately brought Leo to wary attention. "Water!"

April's eyes widened, and it was her own voice, not Petunia's, that protested, "Wait, Mikey,  _no!"_

But it was too late. Mikey was already in motion, his hands striking her shoulders just hard enough to overbalance her, and with a shriek, April toppled off the ledge and splashed into the pool below.

Donnie was on his feet and moving even faster than Leo. As Mikey stood on the ledge, crowing over his victory, Donnie waded in after April, catching her under the arms and hauling her to her feet. Leo, however, stopped at the edge of the pool to pick up the fallen fairy. She looked so small in the palm of his hand, and he couldn't help wondering why April had made sure to throw her clear of the water as she fell.

"April!" Donnie held her steady, brushing her wet bangs out of her eyes. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?"

April shook him off, rounding on the ledge with fury etched in the line of every muscle. " _Michelangelo!"_

On his ledge, Mikey froze. Even Donnie took a step back, as Leo blinked in surprise. He'd never heard anything that angry coming from April. Mikey shrank in on himself as April stormed to the edge of the pool, ignoring Leo's extended hand as she hauled herself out.

"I...I was just..." Mikey stammered.

"You were just  _ruining_  this dress!" April looked down at herself, wringing out the hem of the sundress. "I have to be at my grandma's for dinner in an hour, and now my dress is covered in sewer water!" Turning on her heel, April stormed toward the bathroom, and the sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the lair.

Leo looked up at Mikey's stricken face. "We were just playing..." Mikey whispered.

"I'll go talk to her," Leo said. "Donnie, can you make a run to her aunt's apartment and see if there's anything else that would do for dinner with grandma?"

Donnie shook himself, and the look of shock on his face was replaced with determination. "Sure."

"I'm going too," came Raph's voice from the direction of the bedrooms. As he walked into the pit, arms folded, he raised a brow. "What? You think a closed door is going to block yelling like that?"

"Why are you going?" Leo asked.

"Because he's not allowed to be alone in April's room."

Donnie glowered at him, affronted. "I'm not going to  _do_  anything."

"Of course not. 'Cause I'll be there." Raph grabbed Donnie's arm and hauled him bodily toward the turnstiles. "Come on, fancypants. We're on a deadline."

As the other two headed off on their mission, Leo made his way to the bathroom door. After some time, the sound of running water stopped, and he knocked quietly. "April?"

"Go away, Leo."

"I was just wondering if you wanted Petunia back."

There was a few moments of silence, and the door opened. April, wearing the gi she used for rigorous practice, stared down at the action figure sitting in Leo's open palm. She took it from him carefully, and he watched the tension drain from her face as she saw that the fairy was intact and unharmed. She looked at him, her eyes dark with chagrin.

"Where's Mikey?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, April." The voice from around the corner was barely audible.

April sighed and rounded the corner to where Mikey sat, arms wrapped around his knees and his head drawn halfway into his shell. Kneeling next to him, she placed a hand on one of his knees. "No, I'm sorry. I totally overreacted. I just..." she looked down at the action figure in her hand.

"She's special," Leo said.

"Yeah," April replied, and looked down at Mikey. "You wanna hear the story of how I got her?"

Wide blue eyes stared up at her, and Mikey emerged from his shell a little as he nodded.

"Well," April said, sitting cross legged on the floor, leaning against Leo as he joined her. "It's more my dad's story, really. It starts about nine years ago..."

* * *

Time always seemed to stretch to his an eternity when his sister started going off on a tangent about something or other that displeased her, so it took a while for Kirby to realize that he actually hadn't seen his daughter in quite some time. Finally managing to disengage from the latest diatribe, he snagged his youngest cousin to take his place with his sister, and set off in search of April.

Scents of turkey and stuffing, oranges and spice threaded the air as he wandered through his mother's house. The decorations on the walls brightened the normally stuffy atmosphere, as did the laughter of all of April's cousins.

At last, as he was climbing the stairs to the attic, he heard it; a soft, muffled sound coming from the cubby underneath the stairs. He knocked lightly and tugged open the cubby door.

April raised her tear-stained face, blinking in the sudden light. The pigtails he'd painstakingly put in her hair, adorned with cheerful red and green tartan ribbons, seemed far too lighthearted for the serious look that shadowed her eyes.

Kneeling next to her, Kirby placed a hand on her head. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

His little girl sniffled miserably and held up a brightly coloured box. "A-auntie gave m-me Petunia the P-Princess Fairy." Inside the box, a sweet-faced fairy peered out through the plastic window, adorned with an improbable amount of lace and sequins for what was supposed to be – he looked more closely at the label – the princess fairy of the forest. Decals on the box enthusiastically proclaimed "lights up in the dark!" and "wand sold separately!"

Nonplussed, Kirby looked down at his daughter. "And that's bad?"

A fresh wave of tears welled in April's eyes and rolled down her face. "I w-wanted Hero Knight Valorous. I  _told_  her I wanted V-Valorous, b-but she got me Petunia  _anyway_!"

Kirby closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Not for the first time, he wished April's mother were here to deal with this, because he was fairly certain nothing in his scientific training covered princess fairies. "What's wrong with Petunia?" he asked cautiously. "She seems….nice."

April's look changed immediately from bereft to outraged, and she slammed the box down on the floor. "Princess Fairies never get to do all the fun stuff! When the evil Ogre Trolls threaten the Mystical Valley, it's the Hero Knights who go out and have all the fun adventures. The Princess Fairies just sit in the castles and try on clothes and do each otherses hair and hope that the Knights do okay! I  _told_  Auntie that's why I wanted a Hero Knight, but she said that I spent more than enough time around men and needed to know what girls are supposed to do!"

The rant came fast and furious and left Kirby blinking in its wake as he attempted to follow it. He got the important points well enough, though, and a wave of anger stormed through him as he realized what his sister had been telling his little girl. With a quiet sigh, he picked her up and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. He'd be having words with his sister later, but right now, April needed him.

"Sweetie, listen to me very carefully. Where would we be if they'd told Lisa Meitner she had to clean the house and wasn't allowed to study Physics?"

April sniffled, resting her head against Kirby's chest as she gazed up at him with mournful eyes. "We wouldn't have nuclear fission?"

"That's right," he said, tapping her nose gently. "And if Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin had become a teacher like she was supposed to instead of moving to the US to study at Harvard?"

"We wouldn't know what the sun is made of." Her voice was still uncertain, but one of her hands rested against his chest, her fingers tracing over the smile sported by the reindeer on the ridiculous Christmas sweater he had worn because April insisted on it.

Kirby smiled. "Exactly. And do you know what these ladies had that let them make all these incredible discoveries?"

Her features scrunched up as she considered that, and he could see the wheels turning in her head. "Knowledge?" she ventured.

"Well, yes," he said, reaching over to fix one of her Christmas ribbons. "But what did Einstein say is even more important than that?"

Recognition burst across her face like a sunrise. "Imagination!" she said.

"Imagination," Kirby repeated. "That's something you have, just like Lisa, and Cecilia, and Hypatia, and all the other lady scientists in the murals your wall. And that's a very powerful thing, April."

"But…" she looked down at the box on the floor. "I don't get how that makes Petunia less lame…"

Placing a gentle finger beneath April's chin, he tilted her head up so that she was looking at him again. "Who says Petunia has to be lame?"

"That's the way she is on the show," April answered, confusion clouding her eyes.

"But you have a very powerful tool in here, young lady." Kirby tapped her forehead gently. "You don't have to do what Petunia does on the show. She's  _your_  toy. If you don't like her story, you can create your own. She can be anything you can imagine, sweetheart.  _You_  decide what Petunia is going to be."

She turned eyes full of wonder to him, and for a brief moment, his heart broke from how much he loved her. "I can _do_  that?"

"You can do anything you want, honey."

In the instant before she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, Kirby could see in her eyes the possibilities that began to dawn on her. He held her close, smiling as she nestled her head under his chin. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that this incredible little human being was actually his.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, her voice muffled against him.

Giving her a little squeeze, Kirby kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, Princess."

He held her long enough to dry her tears, and they left the cubby under the stairs behind. April's little hand held tightly to his as they made their way back downstairs, Petunia clutched beneath her other arm. Christmas dinner was just being set out on the table, and Kirby paid close attention as his sister entered the room, but April showed no signs of her earlier upset, even thanking her aunt profusely for Petunia as she sat down at the table. She laughed and clapped her hands with glee as they pulled the Christmas crackers, and as Kirby watched her oldest cousin place the little paper crown on April's head, he couldn't help but give himself a small mental pat on the back.

His sister could keep her opinions to herself. He wasn't half bad at this whole parenting thing after all.

* * *

It had started out to be the worst Christmas ever. But it had ended as one of the best. After dinner, she kissed her Grandma, and hugged all of the cousins, and thanked her aunt again for Petunia. Barely even able to let her go as her father bundled her into her coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck, April grabbed Petunia again as soon as she could, wriggling impatiently as her dad slipped April's earmuffs over her ears.

They headed down the steps for the cold walk home, and she held tightly to her father's hand, looking down at the box as the glow from Petunia's dress and wings began to shimmer in the evening's shadows. That was pretty cool. It was the unearthly green glow of nuclear fission. It was the glow that would spell doom for her enemies. As a light snow began to fall, April smiled down at her new toy with megalomaniacal satisfaction.

For this was Petunia the Princess Fairy no more. After being left out of the adventure once too often, Petunia was no longer a friend to the Hero Knights. Instead, she would use her power to conquer the kingdom and rule it with an iron fist.

From now on, the Mystical Valley would tremble before the wrath of Petunia the Destroyer.

* * *

"Wow," Mikey said, looking with new appreciation at the fairy, which was glowing now in the dim light of the tunnels beneath the nearest exit to April's grandmother's house. "Petunia's more awesome than I thought."

"She's the awesomest," said April, one hand smoothing out the skirt of the green dress Raph and Donnie had brought for her.

Mikey thought for a second, pausing with his hand on the ladder to the exit. "Your dad's pretty cool, too."

Her expression softening, April nodded. "Yeah, he is."

"You gonna be okay from here?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," said April, looking up at the exit. "Just stay away from the bottom of the ladder when I'm climbing up, okay?"

Raph laid a restraining hand on Donnie's shoulder. "You got it." Donnie shot him an insulted look, but remained silent.

April turned, grabbing onto the ladder with one hand, but paused as she brought up the other, looking at the glowing figure of the princess fairy. "You know," she said, "Petunia needs to be with people who understand her. I think maybe I should leave her with someone cool for safekeeping 'till I get back." Stepping off the ladder, she pressed the little fairy gently into Mikey's hand.

Michelangelo stared down at it with utter astonishment, and his gaze snapped back up to April. An instant later, her feet were off the ground and she was giggling as Mikey swept her into a hug.

"I'll take the best care of her ever, I promise!"

April patted him on the head lightly as he released her. "I know you will, buddy."

Mikey held Petunia close, fending off Donnie's attempts to get near the action figure, and Leo couldn't help but snicker at Raph's expression of utter disgust. He glanced at April in time to see her reach the exit, and she smiled at him, offering a little wave. Leo waved back, keeping an eye on her until she was clear, then turned back to his brothers, watching them thoughtfully.

Petunia may have been formidable. But when he considered it, he found that April's method of ruling hearts was a whole lot better.

* * *

"[Petunia the Destroyer](http://snuffes.tumblr.com/post/40525312027/finished-yay-my-very-first-piece-in-a-looooong)" by Snuffes


	25. Tortoiseshell (an Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the family learns why pulling your punches isn't always a kindness, and April gains a shell of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timing of it is a bit odd - it begins about 30 minutes before the start of "Karai's Vendetta", spans that episode, the "Scars" interlude, and finishes just after the end of "The Pulverizer Returns." It should be fairly obvious where the events of the episode falls. It also incorporates Jasjuliet's absolutely amazing Pulverizer comic (with permission), and if you have not done so already, you need to follow the link at the end and share it with the world.
> 
> For Peechy.

 

**Tortoiseshell (an interlude)**

* * *

 

April's toes dug into the threadbare carpet as she took her opening stance. Her fingers splayed against the faded pattern, and she was glad of the rugs beneath her; it would hide the sweating of her palms. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her opponents across from her, and her heart kicked into overdrive. Part of her was nervous, if she was being honest, but most of the shaking in her limbs she attributed to pure adrenaline.

_Finally._

Her opponents exchanged an uneasy glance, and looked to the rat towering behind April for guidance.

"Are you sure about this,  _Sensei_?" Leo ventured.

April could feel her lips drawing into a hard line as her nails dug into the rug beneath her fingers. Forget  _Sensei. April_  was sure about this! "What's the matter?" she taunted. "Afraid I'm going to kick your butt?"

Raph let out an incredulous snort. "In your dreams, sister."

The sharp crack of Splinter's staff rapping against the ground stopped April's retort before it could leave her mouth. "Raphael, enough!" Splinter's voice was stern as he moved between April and his sons. "There is only so much April can learn without facing an opponent. As you challenge each other and push your skills to new limits, so must you now challenge April. so that her skills may grow." His stick rapped the ground again. " _Hajime!_ "

With a wild cry, April launched herself toward the others, using the momentum as she powered out of the crouch to gain speed as she ducked beneath Leo's outstretched arm. Strategy. Go for the weakest first. She'd been out in dangerous situations with Mikey before and wouldn't trust herself to last a second with him if he was actually focused on taking her down, but he was distracted by novelty of her presence. Drawing the tessen as she ran, she flicked it open as she closed in on Mikey and swiped...

But he was already falling toward the floor.

Her brow furrowing, April turned and lashed out at the shape looming behind her, the iron of her fan barely brushing against shell before Donnie was sprawling at her feet, proclaiming loudly about the strength of the blow that had felled him.

April's brows drew further together. Any trace of nervousness she'd had at the start of the bout was gone, replaced by anger as she struck out at Leo. He patiently, slowly blocked her attacks, but as the tessen rang out against his katana, they slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground. April looked down at them and back up with her mouth agape. Then she turned on Raph, who simply stood next to Leo with his arms folded across his chest, and whacked him hard across the shell with the iron fan.

"Ow." Raph said flatly. "You got me."

" _Yame!_ "

April threw up her hands in frustrated disgust. "What the heck was  _that?"_

Mikey blinked up at her in confusion. "Uhhh... sparring?"

"It most certainly was  _not_!" Splinter moved to stand over April's shoulder. "April is right! What on Earth do you think you were doing?"

" _Sensei,"_  Leo ventured as he picked up his katana. "You can't expect us to just... fight April."

"Yeah," Raph added. "It's not like we can hit her."

"Why not?" Splinter demanded. "She can hit you." He passed his staff to April.

Grabbing it in both hands, she brought it down hard against Raph's shell. "Why?" she snapped. "Because I'm a girl? You don't think I can take care of myself?"

" _Ow!_ " Raph squawked, ducking away from her. "No, it's not that! It's because... because..."

"Because you're  _April_ ," Donnie finished.

"It's not that we don't think you can take care of yourself," Leo sighed, sheathing his katana. "We just don't want to hurt you."

Splinter groaned softly, reaching out to pluck his staff from April's hands as she raised it against Leo. A quick gesture sent them to the kneeling posture reserved for lessons, though April was still fuming as she took her place beside Mikey.

"My sons," Splinter said, schooling his voice to patience. "Your intentions are admirable. Indeed, you should never raise your hand to a family member in anger, and I only wish you would show such scruples with each other." He raised a brow at Raphael, who had the grace to look uncomfortable. "But you are ninja, as April strives to be. Sooner or later, your enemies will land a blow against you. It is only a matter of time." Moving down the row of students as he lectured, he stopped in front of Mikey. "Michelangelo. The first time one of the Foot ninja struck you in battle, did you freeze?"

Mikey blinked in surprise before he laughed, waving a dismissive hand. "Naw, 'course not,  _Sensei._  I whipped his butt. But good!" He elbowed April in the side. "Get it? Butt?"

April rolled her eyes. "I get it, Mikey. Yeesh."

Splinter cleared his throat, and Mikey fell silent, returning his attention to Splinter. "But did the blow not hurt?"

"Well," Mikey said slowly. "Yeah."

"Then why did you not freeze from the shock of it?"

"Cause it wasn't exactly a  _surprise_ ," Mikey said. "I've been hit  _lotsa_  times before!" He thought about that for a moment, and looked at April. "...oh."

"'Oh,' indeed." Splinter sighed, resting his hands on the staff. "I appreciate that you four care for April. Indeed, I do so as well. But ours was a difficult and dangerous life even before the Kraang expressed an interest in April. In combat, a ninja cannot afford to be taken off guard by the pain of a blow. He or she must know it, anticipate it, and fight without pause, for even a moment's hesitation in battle can be fatal." April shivered at the thought, and Splinter did not fail to notice. His voice was gentler as he continued. "I know you only wish to help, but you do April no favours by going easy on her. As all four of you are well aware, it is far better for April to learn to take a blow at the hands of this family who cares for her safety and well-being than at the hands of the Kraang or the Foot."

" _Hai, Sensei_ ," came the quiet murmur of four voices in unison.

Splinter stroked his beard slowly as he regarded them. "April is ready for this. But perhaps the four of you are not." He tapped his staff on the ground. "Very well. Pairs sparring, Leonardo will face Donatello. April, I will be your opponent."

Wordlessly, they broke apart, flowing into the familiar motions. April stowed her tessen and moved through the forms with Splinter, accepting his gentle corrections to her posture as they went. She watching with genuine interest as he directed her attention to the spar between Mikey and Raph, where Mikey actually got the upper hand until he got cocky and Raph grabbed him from behind. She even found it in her to smile as Splinter turned the tables on Raph and demonstrated how to throw one's opponent off balance.

But she couldn't quite shake off her foul mood. She and the guys had been growing closer over the past few months. She'd even started to think of them as her brothers, and it went a long way toward helping her cope with the increasingly more frequent feeling that she was alone in the world. But with ninjutsu sitting at the centre of everything they did, how could she truly feel a part of the family if they couldn't even bring themselves to  _practice_  with her?

* * *

She shouldn't have let it bother her as much as it did. The guys even tried to make up for it, in their own ways. Raph asked if she wanted to feed Spike, Mikey brought her pizza, and Donnie asked for her help to analyze some sewage he'd found with unusual radiation signatures, which she had to admit was kind of interesting even before it led to the discovery that the Kraang were tampering with it. Leo even attempted to extend an olive branch and asked if she wanted to help them investigate the source of the contamination, and Leo _never_  invited her to join them on missions. But it was bothering her enough by that point that she declined his thoughtful invitation to help them check out sewage on the bottom of the East River, and opted to head to Murakami's instead to see if some nice handmade gyoza could cheer her out of her funk.

In retrospect, that had been a huge mistake. And what made it even worse was that until her dinner companion had revealed herself to be Karai, April had actually been  _enjoying_  herself. Sitting and talking to the other girl, April had actually dared to hope that she'd made a new friend. Like normal people do.

Dumb, naïve kunoichi.

Even knowing that Karai had been raised in ninjutsu for just as long as the guys had, April had still thought she could take care of herself. Right up until Karai hit her.

It  _hurt_. Unbelievably. And it just kept getting worse; the more Karai hit, and kicked, and punched, the longer it took for April to recover, to fight back through the paralyzing shock as the blows found their mark. If she hadn't managed to catch Karai off guard and toss her down the subway steps...

She'd been proud of herself right up until Splinter had decided she wasn't safe with her aunt any more. He was right, and the boys had been really sweet about helping her get patched up that night, but when she woke the next morning, her resolve was set.  _Let's get started.,_ she'd told Leo. And step one to getting her life back was learning how to hold her own if Karai managed to catch up with her again.

Splinter had been uncertain – she'd practically had to beg him, and swore up and down that she was all right before he agreed to another sparring session. She couldn't hold that against him; her reflection in the mirror still caught her off guard, and she knew how bad she looked now that the bruises had started to show. Maybe that was why Splinter had decided to pair her up with Donnie.

April crossed her arms as she glared at him across the mats. "Don't you dare go easy on me."

"No, no, no," Donnie said, raising his hands in supplication. "Of  _course_  not! I promise!"

Splinter gave the command to start, and April rushed across the mats toward Donatello, channeling all her pent-up anger and frustration into the blow as she brought her tessen down on his staff. He blocked it easily, twisting his wrist to catch the tessen and flip her, though the landing as her back hit the rugs was suspiciously softer than it was whenever Splinter did it. April rolled back to her feet and ran at Donnie again. He batted her hand effortlessly away, whirled his bō, and then…

...brought it down in a feather-light touch across her shoulders.

Her patience snapped. With a cry that even she colud recognize was bordering on tantrum, she flung her tessen at the carpets and turned on him, jabbing her finger into his plastron. "Dammit, Donnie! You  _promised!_ "

" _Yame!_ " Splinter called from where he stood next to Leo and Mikey, the two brothers still locked together as they stared over at her in shock. "April, what is going on?"

"He's doing it again!"

Donnie held up his staff defensively. "I'm sorry,  _Sensei_ , but I  _can't_." He gestured at her. "It's  _April._  I can't just hit her."

"Karai didn't have a problem with hitting me!" April planted her hands on her hips. "How am I supposed to learn to defend myself if you won't even let me  _try?_ " Her voice was growing louder as her frustration and anger built, but she couldn't help it. Everything still hurt, and with the prospect of being trapped down here until the Kraang were stopped looming in front of her - if they even  _could_  be stopped - she was starting to feel like the walls were closing in.

"You won't  _have_  to," Donnie fired back, the edge of his own temper starting to show. "I'll be with you next time! As long as I'm with you, I won't let anything happen to you!"

" _You can't always be with me!"_

_"Yes I can!"_

"Enough!" Splinter pushed his way between them. "Donatello, go face Raphael."

Donnie looked stricken. "But-"

"Go!"

As Donnie reluctantly crossed the room toward his brother, Splinter rested a hand on April's shoulder. "You will come with me."

Her shoulders hunching, April nodded, and accompanied Splinter out of the dojo. " _Sensei_ , I'm sorry," she said as they descended the stairs. "I just-"

"I understand, April. I do not condone what happened, but I do understand. Perhaps it was too soon."

She turned to him, her eyes wide. " _Sensei_ , no, please! Don't make me stop-"

He raised a hand. "Calm yourself, April. I do not mean to abandon your training. But before you can master your physical forms, you must first have mastery over your emotions. This is a trying time for you, and it strikes me that perhaps what you need is a moment of calm in this river of adversity to find your centre again. I would like you to gather what you need to see you through a few days away from this place."

April let out a long breath, and squared her shoulders.  _"Hai, Sensei."_

After she had done as he asked, he met her at the turnstiles and led her into the darkness of the tunnels. She wasn't afraid - she felt safer with Splinter than she did with… well, anyone since the days in her childhood when her father would wake her from her nightmares and gather her into his arms. But she was curious.

" _Sensei?_  Where are we going?"

He turned his head to smile at her. "To a place my sons do not know of. They are my greatest joy, but spending each day with four teenage boys can at times be…"

"Incredibly annoying?" April offered.

His soft chuckle echoed off the tunnel walls. "I would not have used quite those words, but yes. Before I was quite as… adept at tuning them out to meditate as I am now, I occasionally needed a retreat where I could find solitude. Particularly when I was troubled by unpleasant dreams."

"You have nightmares?" April shouldered her bag a little more securely as she stared up at him in wonder. "What would  _you_  have nightmares about? I would have thought that if anything showed up in one of your dreams to bother you, you'd just pulverize it and then meditate on its corpse."

That startled another laugh out of him, and he shook his head. "Nothing so colourful, more is the pity. No, April, when nightmares trouble me these days, they are more often than not about my sons." He sighed, softly. "In the latest, for example, I often dream that they are disarmed in battle, and helpless without their weapons of choice. And in that moment of helplessness, the Shredder arrives, and they fall."

"Oh," April said quietly, and a shudder chased through her. "That  _is_  bad."

"Indeed," he responded dryly."There are times the dream feels so real that I fear it is not merely a dream, but a warning about the future."

"You know,  _Sensei,_ if we're trying to solve my problems by working on my weaknesses, maybe you should do the same thing with the guys. Next time they get cocky about how good they are, take away their weapons and see how they do. Just like we're trying to get me to learn how to take a punch by having the guys hit me instead of Karai, make them go up against the Foot without weapons before they have to go up against the a big bad like Shredder without them." She smiled tentatively. "It might let you sleep a little better."

Splinter raised a hand to stroke his beard. "It is an unorthodox idea… but not without its appeal. Very well, I will take it under advisement."

As they walked, the humidity in the air was increasing, along with the temperature. It piqued her curiosity to no end, but she trusted Splinter. Then, at last, they turned a corner, and Splinter led her into a narrow crack in the tunnel wall. They followed it for quite some way to what appeared to be a dead end, until Splinter shifted what seemed to be solid wall, and April found herself staring past him in shock.

"Sensei," she breathed. "Where are we?"

"I believe it was once a carriage station," Splinter said. "Before a group of industrious environmentalists got their hands on it."

She was standing in the middle of a lush garden. Trees stretched out along the length of the station, creating little copses and groves in and around a host of flowering bushes. In the middle of the massive subterranean space, a small fountain created a source of fresh, running water in a little pond that drained into a channel which ran throughout the garden before vanishing into the sewer systems below. Large lights overhead were off now, only auxiliary emergency lights illuminating the space, but it was clear how the plants had managed to thrive down here. All around the walls were hung artistic works of varying degrees of competency, but the entire thing spoke of a great optimism and love of beauty.

"How…?"

"From what I have overheard, they wish to propose a system of parks in abandoned rail stations across the city. This is their… not entirely legal prototype to prove that it can be done." He folded his hands behind his back as he moved to stand next to her. "It is most often empty. The lights are automated, and on the rare occasions when someone does come to tend the garden, there are ample places I can show you where a kunoichi can hide." He glanced down at her. "It is, I find, a good place to gather one's thoughts."

April bit her lip, nodding slowly. "I'll try,  _Sensei._ But… I'm not really a meditation kind of girl."

"Then perhaps it is time you began." He passed her the bag of supplies he had gathered while she was packing her things. "Come. Let me show you what I have discovered."

* * *

She wasn't sure if it was exactly what she needed, but she did have to admit that the peace and quiet was not unwelcome. It was nice, for a while, to have her own words be the only ones in her head. No overheard arguments, no Space Heroes reruns, no blasting music… just the sound of running water and the occasional thunder of a distant subway. She spent the time exploring the gardens, and attempting to meditate, and reading a novel Donnie had loaned her, and practicing her katas. Though her time spent in isolation also reminded her just how inconvenient it was to be stuck down here. On the second day, she ran out of solution for her contact lenses and had to switch over to her glasses, despite the fact that she hated the lack of peripheral vision that they left her with. By the time Splinter returned for her, she was almost glad to be back in the lair.

Until she saw the thing waiting in Donnie's lab.

"What…?" She reached out a hand to tap on the glass before Mikey reached out to catch it, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't," he advised. "Donnie gets really mad if you do that."

Never mind that Donnie wasn't there - she hadn't seen him the whole time she'd been back. She stared at Mikey incredulously. "What is it?"

"Well, it used to be the Pulverizer. Guy named Timothy." Mikey peered over her shoulder at the tank."I'm not exactly sure  _what_  he is now. I'm trying to come up with a good name for him, but 'Goo Guy' isn't working for me."

She shoved her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as the eyestalks of the creature in the talk swiveled to stare back at her. "Poor guy."

"Donnie's pretty messed up about it," Mikey said. "He kept trying to-"

"April, Mikey," Leo's voice broke in, and April turned to see him standing in the doorway. He gestured over his shoulder. "Practice time."

Donnie was waiting in the dojo when they arrived, and once glance was enough to confirm Mikey's assertions. Donnie couldn't even look at her for long, and he practically radiated hurt. She was almost glad when Splinter gave him a very long look and paired him up with April. At least this gave them a chance to talk.

When Splinter called for the match to begin, she closed without the frustration that had been driving her before her break in the garden, moving through the forms Splinter had taught her with rote precision. Donnie, for his part, blocked her with the same ease and precision, but something was different this time.

His punches were harder.

"I heard about what happened," she said as she attempted a double punch. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," he said, blocking her with a force that stung a little, and the sadness in his voice made her heart ache in sympathy. "I just… I thought I could save him."

April went into a tuck, coming up on his other side. "Some people… they make it hard to help them. But hey," she added, trying to lighten the mood. "That's why this practice is good, right? So next time we're in a fight, you won't have to worry about saving me. I'll be able to do it myself!"

At that, his attention snapped on her in full. He'd been distracted before, but a darkness swirled across his features as he stared at her. "Uh-uh," he said, striking out with a speed that left her scrambling to catch up. "You're not going into any more fights."

A familiar flare of anger kindled deep within her. "Well, not right now, no, but I can't stay down here for the rest of my life!"

She struck back at him, hard, but he parried her with ease. "It's the best way to protect you!"

"I can take care of myself, Donnie!"

Splinter had been teaching her a series of new combinations, and she resorted to one of them in desperation. It was incredibly difficult, and she wasn't very good at it, but she was so angry, she attempted it anyway. It went well for a moment… until Donnie started to counter.

"No you  _can't_!" He shouted back at her. "You're human! You don't even have a shell! You're so easy to hurt, it's a wonder you can even _move_  without injuring yourself!"

"Well I can take care of myself better than the Pulverizer!" In a frantic, last-ditch attempt to prove herself, she disengaged and attempted the newest combination she'd been learning. She heard Splinter call out as he recognized what she was attempting, but she stubbornly ignored it. "But hey, at least he has people to wonder if he's ever coming home again! If I stay stuck down here for the rest of my life, I don't know if anyone's even going to notice that I'm gone!"

She launched herself into the finishing move of the combination, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Donnie's hand filled her field of vision as he raised it in the instinctive counter that had been drilled into him by years of training with Splinter. The counter she'd never been able to properly block. She saw the look on his face the moment his expression changed from wounded anger to horror. And then she felt the blow, ripping through her head in a burst of excruciating pain, and felt rather than heard the crack.

Time righted itself as she fell to the mats, her head ringing as her vision blurred. There were several pairs of green hands reaching for her, Leo's voice demanding to know how many fingers he was holding up, and she squinted through the stars in her vision.

"Uhh…. seven?"

There was a moment of shocked silence before Raph's voice blasted over her shoulder. "Geez, Donnie, what is the  _matter_ with you?"

"I… I don't know…" Donnie's hushed voice was raw with shock. "I'm… I'm sorry…."

She heard the sound of his footsteps on the mats as he ran past her, but she didn't see him go. She was too busy staring down at what was left of her glasses, one lens smashed and the bridge snapped clean in two. Slowly, brushing off the hands that reached for her, she gathered up the pieces and rose shakily to her feet. Ignoring the concerned questions around her, she left the dojo, gathered her bag, and walked quietly past the waiting turtles and out through the turnstiles.

" _Sensei_ ," she heard Leo's concerned question behind her. "Shouldn't we stop her?"

"She is not our prisoner, Leonardo," Splinter answered quietly. "She may come and go as she wishes. Though I hope, for her sake, she returns soon."

Shaking her head, April ascended the ladder and vanished into the night.

* * *

It didn't take long to clear her head. She was upset, but that didn't change the fact that she'd gotten what she'd wanted after all. Donnie had finally stopped fighting her like she was a porcelain doll, and started fighting her…

...like one of his brothers.

Sighing, April paid the cashier at the pharmacy and stowed the contact lens solution in her bag. It hadn't been about her. Not really. She'd heard about the Pulverizer before, largely in the form of exasperated stories as she'd helped Donnie with one project or another. She'd heard, too, about how he'd looked up to Donnie. Treated him like one of his heroes. Donnie had been  _right there_. To see Timothy mutate, and not be able to do a thing about it….

No wonder he'd stopped pulling his punches. He hadn't just seen the consequences of doing so, he'd been slapped across the face with them, and they'd left him broken.

She paused outside a storefront, staring absently at the large ad in the window. Hitching up the strap of her bag, she went to the door and pushed her way inside. "Hi," she said as the clerk looked up. "Can you really be done in about an hour?"

He smiled. "Sure can," he said, and whistled as April pulled the broken remains of her glasses out of her bag. "Wow. You did a number on these." He looked in sympathy at the bruising on her face. "Playing sports?"

"Uh-huh." She glanced around at the racks of frames lining the walls. "Can I get new ones?"

"Sure," he said, carefully picking up pieces of the shattered lens. "Take a look, see if there's any you like."

April smiled at him and pulled her phone from her bag. When her aunt's familiar voice answered the call, she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, keenly aware of just how much she missed it. "Hi!" she said, forcing brightness into her voice. "Yeah, I miss you too. Karate camp is great… but I kinda got carried away and broke my glasses. Do you think maybe you could transfer some money for new ones… Yeah, they've got one of those one hour places here..."

She listened with half an ear to the admonishments from her aunt as she browsed through the different frames, trying on a few but not finding any that spoke to her. Until she tried on the last pair in the row, and stared at her reflection in the mirror in shock as she realized what she was seeing.

They were perfect.

Shaking just a little, she pulled them off and passed them to the waiting clerk.

* * *

The lair was quiet when she slipped back inside, and her heart sank as she stepped into Donnie's lab only to find it empty, save for the mutant who watched her from his tank. She would have left again, but the pile of crumpled papers on the desk drew her attention, and curiosity got the better of her. She smoothed out a few of the papers that surrounded a battered notebook before her eyes widened as she figured out what she was looking at.

The abandoned attempts at writing a note. A note in Timothy's handwriting.

The fragments and aborted attempts culminated in what would have been his final draft before he copied it out for good. There were a few scratches and crossed-out words, but the meaning was clear.

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm going away for a while. I've made some friends who are helping me figure out a few things. Please don't worry about me. I'll be back before you know it._

_-Tim_

It ended with a copy of the little Space Heroes doodle that dotted the cover of the notebook next to Timothy's name.

"Oh, Donnie…" April whispered softly.

"He's back, you know."

April glanced up at Raph, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. She set the note down, smoothing it out carefully before she moved toward Raph. "I should… I should talk to him."

Raph didn't say anything, just reached out to take her chin carefully between his fingers and turn her face to the light. "Well," he said at last. "At least this black eye isn't as bad as the last one."

That managed to get a grin out of her, and she nodded. "Just wait. I'll be a pro at shiners in no time."

"Hey, April?"

She paused on her way out the door, glancing curiously over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." He shrugged. "About… y'know. Everything." Looking distinctly uncomfortable, he hesitated before continuing. "For what it's worth… we'd miss you. You know. If you disappeared."

April blinked at him for a moment, and her expression softened. "Aww. Raph. That was almost sweet."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it." He planted a large hand in the middle of her back and shoved, not ungently. "Now get out there before I take it back."

Donnie sat alone in the pit, his back to the lab as he fiddled with the tape on his hands. He didn't look up as she quietly sat on the edge, her feet resting on the bench next to him. He was so tall that even a level down, his head was nearly level with hers. She bit her lip nervously as she waited for him to acknowledge her, and it hurt her to see him so drawn in on himself .

"Hey," she said at last.

"Hey," he answered softly. "They… they said you left."

"I had a few errands to run and a head to clear," she answered. "But I'm back now."

He took a long, shuddering breath, and his head sank into his hands as he let it out. "April, I'm so sorry."

"Me too," she said. "We were both pretty upset." She glanced back over her shoulder at the lab, and shifted along the floor, bringing herself a little closer to him. "I'm sorry about your friend."

"You were right," he told her, his voice muffled against his hands. "Someone had to make sure his mom wasn't just waiting for him to come home." He lowered his hands again, staring at them as though they belonged to someone else. "It wasn't too hard. Took one of his notebooks for reference. I left the letter on his window sill and waited for his mom to find it." His big hands curled into fists against his knees. "I could hear her crying."

She was reaching for him before she could give it a second thought, and at her light touch against his shoulder, he tensed as though she'd hit him. "It was good of you to go."

The short laugh that escaped him was utterly devoid of humour. "First good I've done. He was the most annoying person I've ever known, but I never meant for him to get hurt." He turned his head away even further, and his voice was barely above a whisper as he added, "I never meant to hurt you either."

"Donnie, I'm fine," April said. "Besides, they're just glasses."

"...I wasn't talking about the glasses," he said.

"...I know."

There was a moment of silence between them, and April folded her hands in her lap as she thought about what to say next. But it was Donnie who finally broke the silence again with a soft sigh. "I was afraid you weren't coming back."

"Donnie…" April breathed, and shook her head in disbelief. "Well, then you're a doofus." She leaned over to nudge him with her shoulder. "We're  _friends_ , Donnie. Friends fight. That happens sometimes."

He looked at his hands, twisting them awkwardly in his lap. "I wouldn't know. I've never had friends before. Just my brothers." Despite himself, he glanced over his shoulder at the lab. "And it looks like I'm down to just 'friend' again."

"Yeah, well, this friend isn't so easy to get rid of." She shifted her foot to kick his leg lightly. "We may have fought, but the thing about fighting is that you can make up after." She nudged him again. "I came back."

"Where did you go?"

In answer, she pulled the new glasses from her face and dangled them over his shoulder. Startled, he took them from her, holding them gingerly between his giant fingers, and she saw the jolt of surprise run through him as he recognized the pattern on the frames. "Wait, is that…?"

"Tortoiseshell," she said. "Imitation, of course. I checked to make sure."

Finally, at last, he turned to face her, his brown eyes gazing up at her in wonder.

"So there," she finished smugly. "Now  _I_  have a shell too."

There was regret in his gaze as he took in the dark discolouration of the bruises around her eye, but he masked it behind a smile as he reached up and very gently set the glasses back on her face. "Shell suits you," he said, his lopsided grin drawing an answering one from her, but his own faded in another instant. "April, I-"

She brought a hand up quickly, silencing him as she laid her fingers lightly over his mouth. "Don't apologize for doing what I asked you to do. The only way I'm ever going to get better is for you guys to treat me like one of you, and even though it makes you uncomfortable, you  _did._ Once I got over the whole 'ow it actually hurts' part, I felt…" She bit her lip. "I felt like I was actually part of something for once." She lowered her hand, and smiled down at him. "Thank you."

He wasted no more words, but leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. She let out a long breath as her arms wound around his shoulders, and she rested her cheek against the top of his head. She could feel the sorrow that drew his muscles taut as he clung to her, and her heart ached for him. She wished she had the answers. That she could have been there to hold his hand as she listened to the sobs of Timothy's mother. But she was here now, and even as she gave comfort, she took it as well from the strength with which he held her. In the storm that whirled around her in the nightmare her life had become, he was her anchor. He reminded her where she was,  _who_  she was, and helped her find her place in this odd little group she had come to call her family.

They had fought. And knowing the ginger temper she had inherited from her father's side of the family, they would more than likely fight in the future.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't come home again.

* * *

 

"[Mother's Day](http://jasjuliet.tumblr.com/post/50205313422/wasnt-too-hard-took-one-of-your-notebooks-for)" by Jasjuliet

 

 

_ 'Wasn't too hard. Took one of your notebooks for reference. I even drew that little space heroes doodle you add at the end of your signature. Left the letter at the window sill, and told her you'd be back soon. _

_ I’ll fix this. I always find a way.’_

* * *

"[Tortoiseshell (silly)](http://www.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-Falling10-477818023)" by Ruslanan

 

__

"[Tortoiseshell](http://ruslanan.deviantart.com/art/TMNT-Falling11-12-478070771?ga_submit_new=10%253A1408988193)" by Ruslanan


	26. Jpop (an interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April attempts to teach a valuable lesson and ends up getting schooled instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes there are scenes that I just don't know where to fit in to the story. This is one of them, and hearing Shinobi kind of cemented it. Just one of those moments where April realizes there are depths to her brothers that she doesn't realize sometimes.

**Jpop**

* * *

April's brow furrowed as her knock went unanswered. She knew he was in there — the pounding music shook the floor beneath her feet — but no matter how hard she knocked, there was no response. Finally, she pushed the door open, carefully averting her eyes to the floor to give him time to notice her as she eased through the door.

The music crashed into her as she entered, and it was a little scary how much it reminded her of him; it was the auditory equivalent of sugar, espresso, and puppies relentlessly shaken together. But as she listened a moment longer, she realized that the resemblance was more than just superficial. The Japanese lyrics pouring from the speakers were echoed in Mikey's voice, broken only long enough for a cheerful, "Oh, hey April!" before the enthusiastic singing continued.

Her politeness forgotten, she looked up in astonishment at Mikey. As the music pounded through the room, Mikey jumped up and down in time on his bed, punctuating the lyrics she couldn't understand with what she assumed were appropriate accompanying actions.

"What is this?" she called over the music, moving closer to the bed.

Giving a particularly enthusiastic leap, Mikey flopped down on his stomach, the bed creaking to accommodate him. His toe flicked out to nudge the volume down, though he was looking at April when he did it.

"Donnie downloaded it for me. It's from Japan. I love this stuff, but it was really hard to get when we were kids." He beamed at her. "Cool, right? Oh, this is the best part…" As April gingerly picked her way around piles on the floor she didn't particularly care to examine too closely and perched on the edge of the bed next to him, he sang along to the bridge, bouncing in place as he did so. The chorus kicked in again, and he grinned. "Awesome lyrics, huh?"

"I… guess so," she said, her cheeks reddening a little. She'd thought she'd been doing pretty well with her language lessons, but she supposed that it didn't translate so well outside of the dojo. "I didn't really catch any of that."

"Ohhhh," Mikey said, his foot kicking out behind him again to silence the song. "Right. I forgot that you're just a beginner. It basically means ninjas are awesome."

"Well, that's true, they are„," April said, glancing around the room. She'd only been in once or twice, but as she took in the cluttered shelves, she started noticing things she hadn't before. Like the fact that the videotapes were labelled in both Mikey's more familiar scribbles from his notes on the fridge, and in equally hastily scrawled kanji. Or the fact that the mismatched volumes of manga on the shelves were mostly in Japanese.

"Mikey, what's your first language?" she asked.

His face was open, uncomprehending as he looked at her curiously. "Japanese, a'course. Why?"

"It's just…" April folded her hands together in her lap, staring at them. "I don't hear you guys speak it much, is all."

This time, his face was the one that reddened, and he rolled over onto his back, lacing his fingers together behind his head. "Uhhh… yeah, that's my fault. I had trouble with English, and Splinter made a rule that we'd only speak English when we weren't in the dojo so that I  _had_  to learn. We got kinda used to it, and I guess it stuck."

Shame burned through April, and she was suddenly very glad she'd left her backpack behind in the pit. She'd noticed Mikey's distractability — it was impossible not to — and after long lab sessions spent listening to Donnie complain about how hard it was to teach his younger brother anything, she'd gone to the resource centre at school and signed out some books meant to help kids struggling with reading and writing. She'd wanted to help… but as she looked further at the shelves, noting the epic fantasy novels and comics in both English and Japanese tucked away behind the action figures, she felt like a royal tool.

"Hey, Mikey?"

"Hmmm?" he tilted his head to look up at her.

"Do you think you could help me with my Japanese?"

The utter shock on his face made her feel even worse as he pushed himself to his knees to stare into her eyes. "Don't you want to ask Donnie?"

"I would…." she blushed harder, her hands curling into fists on her knees as she looked away, and she finished in a rush, "butDonnietalkstoofast."

Mikey stared at her for another stunned moment before he laughed and reached out to take her hands in his. "Oh, man, I  _totally_  get that! Sure, I can help you out. But first, we gotta get you more mellow, girl. You can't learn  _anything_  when you're all tense like this." His foot collided with the boom box, and the room flooded with Jpop again. Mikey clambered to his feet, yanking April up with him, and the bed creaked ominously beneath their combined weight. "Just feel the beat and let it go!"

Her father had always told her never to jump on the bed. But her father had never tried to resist Hurricane Mikey. Her stomach fluttered as she jumped with him, her hands locked gently but inescapably in his much bigger ones, and caught in his wake, she found herself jumping higher than she ever though possible as his cheerful voice flooded the room with song.

She hadn't realized just how much she had to learn from her brothers.  _All_  of her brothers. And as the bed suddenly shifted, sending them both tumbling down only for April to find herself caught against Mikey's chest, both of them laughing uncontrollably as he kept her from crashing to the floor, she vowed that she'd stop underestimating the youngest of them.

He was sweet, and innocent, and naive, and goofy, and more distractable that a cat with a laser pointer. But there was so much she could learn from him, if she could let herself get over what she  _thought_  she knew about him and just give him a chance.

But first, she could let herself rest her head against his plastron, and let the strength of his hug chase away the tension and the guilt, basking in the warmth of that sheer, unconditional love.

* * *

"[Jpop](http://melty-art.tumblr.com/post/81926114243/he-was-sweet-and-innocent-and-naive-and-goofy)" by Melty94


	27. History Bites: Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an important lesson is learned (and things are thrown at April's head).

**History Bites: Prologue**

* * *

 

The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the grate in the dojo, illuminating the fevered battle fought beneath the tree. Leo shifted contemplatively as he watched the combatants, but he could already see where this was going. Raph threw a reverse punch, followed by a roundhouse kick and a dragon punch, but Mikey dodged them all easily.

"Nice try, Raph," Mikey laughed, "but you're gonna have to move less like an overweight elephant if you're going to get the drop on me!" He followed it up with an uppercut that took Raph off guard. Enraged, Raph flipped himself back to his feet and drew his sai.

Leo sighed. That would do it. He waited for the inevitable as Raph charged at Mikey. Unpreturbed, Mikey ducked beneath Raph's uncontrolled swing and swept Raph's feet out from under him. Raph went down with a squawk, one sai going wild. Leo reached out and plucked it from the air before it hit April, who sat next to him. April, for her part, didn't react with much more than a widening of her eyes; she was getting used to time spent around ninjas.

" _Yame._ "

Splinter moved to stand over Raphael's groaning form. "You must not let concern for your pride overrule your judgement, Raphael. You allowed yourself to be distracted, and that can only lead to foolish mistakes."

Raph heaved himself up onto his knees. " _Hai, sensei._ " He transferred his glare to the corner where Leo sat with the others. "But I don't understand why those clowns get to just sit over there and watch me get my shell handed to me."

Leo tossed Raph's sai back to him, which he caught easily. Next to Leo, April sat with her laptop on her lap, and Donnie sat on her other side, eagerly pontificating about the website they were currently looking at. "Someone has to help April with her homework," said Leo, over April and Donnie's conversation.

"Yeah, and I get braniac over there, but why you?" Raph asked.

"I'm still not sure I get the difference between mastodons and mammoths," April said, switching to her word processor and the short essay she had to do in preparation for her field trip the next day.

"Ah," said Donnie, eliciting a groan from Mikey – they all knew that 'ah' as the precursor to a really big lecture. "Though both are iconic examples of Pleistocene megafauna, there are distinct differences in tooth shape and tusk formation. Most notably, the mastodon has two small tusks in its chin in addition to the large ones." Really warming up now, Donnie yanked the laptop off April's lap and started typing into her essay. "It provides an excellent comparative biology for the understanding of grazing patterns—"

Leo quietly reached over and retrieved the laptop, putting it back in April's lap, and cast Raph a pointed look.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. History's a stupid subject anyway."

"On the contrary, Raphael," said Splinter. "It is well known that those who fail to learn from history—" taking advantage of Raph's distraction, Splinter's tail flicked out, catching Raph off-guard in the exact way Mikey had and sending his sai flying back toward April "—are doomed to repeat it."

This time it was Donnie who caught the sai. April gave an exasperated huff. "Could we please stop repeating history at my face?"

Raph moaned from his place on the ground. "Point taken,  _sensei._ "

Leo snickered as Mikey helped Raph to his feet, and returned his attention to defending April from Donnie's excessive enthusiasm. People could say what they would about homeschooling, but at least their lessons were never, ever dull.

 


	28. History Bites: Act 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which April has a field trip that doesn't go as expected.

**History Bites: Act One**

* * *

 

April supposed that she suffered from the problem that many New Yorkers did; living in a city that contained some of the greatest institutions, museums, and tourist attractions in the world, she never actually bothered to visit any of them. She had some vague memories of visiting the Museum of Natural History with her dad when she was younger, but they hadn't been in a long, long time. So when her class had arrived at the building, with its towering façade facing Central Park flanked by dinosaur topiary cut in honour of the special dinosaur exhibition on the fourth floor, even her jaded city girl self had to admit to being impressed.

Even more impressive was the massive mechanical Tyrannosaurus that greeted them as they entered the building. It had been carefully cordoned off from the public, probably to avoid lawsuits should some enthusiastic little one get under its massive feet, but the animatronic dinosaur lumbered around the atrium in a frighteningly lifelike manner. The enthusiastic scientists controlling it happily explained to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen that new research coming out of the exhibition upstairs, coupled with new advances in robotics technology, had allowed them to recreate the Cretaceous giant's movements in a more lifelike way than had ever been seen before. Then they had lapsed into an argument about their model's accuracy, and whether or not the pebbled skin covering the animatronic giant should have had feathers.

April sighed. She wished she could have stayed downstairs for that argument. But then their escort had arrived to take them behind-the-scenes to for the real purpose behind their field trip, and their guide on this leg of the tour wasn't nearly so interesting. April found her mind drifting more often than Mikey's did, which was a truly scary thought. Frowning, she closed her eyes. Using the visualization techniques Splinter had been teaching her, she tried to remind herself why this trip in particular was so important.

* * *

_Despite the weeks she had been training as a kunoichi, Splinter still insisted that at least one of the boys walk her home at night. It should have annoyed her, but April suspected it had more to do with Splinter's traditional upbringing than with a judgment on her competence. And she didn't mind that much. It meant more time with the guys, and less time alone, which was what she needed these days._

_Since Raph and Mikey were still busy sparring, and Leo had been called up to face off with Splinter, it had fallen to Donnie to accompany her. As they took to the rooftops, putting her new skills to the test, she took a moment to appreciate how clear the sky was._

_"Look," she said, pointing up. "You can actually see Orion."_

_Donnie looked up and grinned. "The middle star on his sword is actually a nebula, you know."_

_"Hey," she hitched a thumb at herself, "scientist's daughter. I knew that before I knew my alphabet." She pointed at a bright star toward the south. "I can't remember what that one is, though."_

_He moved to stand behind her so that he could better follow the sightline of her arm, his plastron pressing lightly against her back. "Oh, that's Sirius."_

_"Really?" she said. "I thought it was joking." It was a stupid geek joke, one her dad had told so many times that repeating it was automatic by now, but Donnie responded with a snort of laughter. She couldn't help grinning. There weren't very many people she knew other than her dad who would have appreciated it. Laughing, April vaulted the next gap to land on her aunt's rooftop. "Thanks for your help today."_

_"Don't worry about it," Donnie said as he landed next to her. "Do you think you're ready for your trip tomorrow?"_

_"I'd better be," she said as she sprinted across the roof. "Mr. Nelson has been going on about this for weeks."_

_"I'm so jealous!" He pulled up next to her, staring dreamily into the distance. "I can't believe you actually get to_ see _the mastodon mummy they found! And ask questions!"_

_"Hey, if I could trade places with you, I would," she said, and instantly froze as the glee left his face. "Oh, Donnie, I wasn't thinking—I'm sorry."_

_He smiled at her and shook his head. "It's okay. I know what you meant." He jumped down to her fire escape and held up his hands. She could make the jump on her own at this point and they both knew it, but they'd been doing it this way long enough that she took comfort in the routine of it, and he knew her well enough to know that, too. She let herself fall from the roof, finally able to enjoy the few seconds of freefall before Donnie caught her around the waist and set her on her feet._

_"I'll take lots of notes for you," she said. "I promise. And pictures!"_

_He raised a brow. "Do they let you take pictures of that kind of thing?"_

_She planted a hand on her hip and grinned. "Hey, if I'm not good enough to take a picture of a mummy for my friend without getting caught, what kind of kunoichi am I?"_

_Donnie giggled, clutching his fists beneath his chin. "You are_  so _cool!"_

_"Yeah," she said, examining her fingernails. "I know." She pulled open her window and turned back to him, opening her arms. "Night, Donnie."_

_He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. "G'night, April." Letting go of her reluctantly, he smiled at her for a moment before he vaulted back up to the roof. He turned to wave once he reached the top. "See you tomorrow?"_

_She returned the wave. "Count on it!"_

_And with that, he was gone back into the night. Her smile faded a little as she hoisted herself through the window. She could have kicked herself for the stupid mistake she'd made. Of course he couldn't trade places with her. The one person out of everyone she knew who most wanted to go on this field trip tomorrow was the one person who could never actually do so._

_As she opened her closet and dug for her pyjamas, pausing to pull Titian down from the Titian Cave for a good-night kiss – it was childish, she knew, but she did it to keep the nightmares away, and so far it was working – she resolved that she would be the most attentive student in the world on that trip tomorrow. If Donnie couldn't be there, she would be his eyes and ears instead._

* * *

April opened her eyes again. She was trying. She really was. But this guy was just so... _boring_.

It was kind of amazing, really. Their teacher had managed to get their class a look at the mastodon mummy that the museum's research team had just excavated from a glacier, which was so well-preserved that all the science news outlets were buzzing about the possibility of cloning a real mastodon. How you could make that boring was beyond April's comprehension, but this guy managed it.

Steve, as he had introduced himself, was a graduate student working for the Sackler Genomics Institute. And he clearly wished he was somewhere else as much as the rest of the class did. "And by using modern phylogenetic techniques with the DNA samples obtained from the specimen," he said, never breaking his monotone, "we can establish a more accurate cladogram for the relationship for the  _Proboscidea—"_

April, who had been hiding her phone behind one of her classmates as she texted what she could follow to the eager turtle on the other end, held up her free hand as she read the incoming message.

Steve broke off his drawl, looking immensely insulted. April had figured him out pretty quickly. He was really smart, but unlike Donnie, who changed how he explained things until you understood it because he genuinely wanted you to appreciate science as much as he did, Steve  _liked_  feeling smarter than everybody else and deliberately used the most complicated explanations possible to make himself feel better. The fact that a graduate student needed to talk down to a bunch of high school kids to feel good about himself made her dislike him instantly, and the fact that she kept interrupting him to ask questions had pretty much ensured that the feeling was mutual. "Yes?"

"How does the institute account for the degradation of genetic material when performing the sequencing?" she asked, actually interested in the answer even if the question had come from Donnie. His help with her essay last night was paying off in a lot of unexpected ways, though she was trying not to take too much pleasure in the fact that she kept throwing Steve off his game.

Steve stared at her, adjusting the tie that she was fairly sure was not actually required dress code for a grad student. "The mastodon was  _frozen_ ," he said, as though talking to a six year old. "That means it's  _preserved_."

"Well yeah," said April, "but even frozen DNA begins to degrade after a few thousand years, and you've dated this mummy at over 50,000 years old."

Behind her, Mr. Nelson made an approving noise and made a note on his tablet.

Steve rolled his eyes. "It's a complicated process, well beyond your ability to understand," he said.

April made a face at him, surreptitiously angling herself so that she could get a clear shot of the mummy with her phone.

_"No pictures!"_

April jumped at his shout, but it wasn't directed at her. Steve was yelling at Brandon, the photographer for their school paper. April had worked with him a lot the year before, and knew that he didn't do well with being yelled at. He lowered his camera with a stricken expression on his face, and April leaned over as Steve started to drone on again. "Don't worry," she whispered. "If you don't have a clear shot, I've got a bunch."

Brandon shot her a grateful look, and April smiled at him.

"Now, we've got a lot of work to do," said Steve, adjusting the lab coat he wore over his clothes, "if you have any other questions, I can provide you with some research material on your way out."

Mr. Nelson started in surprise. "But we arranged to have the entire afternoon to discuss the mummy."

"We're much too busy for that." Steve waved a hand. "It's a big museum. Surely these children can entertain themselves for a few hours." Anything else he might have said was forestalled by the paper airplane made out of a museum map that hit him in the back of the head; April was fairly certain it had come from Josh's direction. "Ow!" Steve turned, enraged. "What was that?"

"Children entertaining themselves," Mr. Nelson said flatly. "Come on, kids."

Nobody was particularly happy as they were escorted back to the public part of the museum. Mr. Nelson assigned them a time to meet back at the main entrance, with specific instructions to learn at least one new thing under threat of a pop quiz, before he took off after Josh and his friends in an attempt to keep them from completely embarrassing the school; on their trip to the Museum of Modern Art, the boys had gotten the entire class thrown out of the building on account of their behavior toward the anatomically correct artwork.

Sighing, April headed back up to the fourth floor to check out the museum's mastodon skeleton. If the mummy part of the trip was a wash, as least she could try to get some good reference shots for Donnie. When she arrived there, she discovered that Brandon had had the same idea. He wasn't having much luck, though, as a man and a woman wearing museum IDs were inside the display, carefully measuring the mastodon's foot bones with a pair of calipers.

"So any idea what you're going to call this article?" April asked.

Brandon grimaced. "Mastodon misfortune?" He thought about it a minute. "Or maybe 'Blowhard Blues?'"

A snort of laughter from inside the display drew their attention, and April found the two museum staff looking at them. "Let me guess," said the woman, pushing her dark hair behind her ears. "You're part of the class that had the delightful experience of a lecture from Steve 'my thesis is more important than yours' Kirkland?"

April grinned. "So it wasn't just us?"

The other scientist laughed. "Nope. If it isn't about Steve Kirkland, it's not worth his time." He beamed at them, his jeans and flannel over a 'Got DNA?' t-shirt providing a stark contrast to Steve. "I'm Dan, and this is Parminder. We have the misfortune of being students in the same lab."

Parminder put her calipers away. "If you kids have any questions that Mr. Personality didn't cover, we'd be happy to answer them for you."

Brandon and April exchanged a look. Grinning, April pulled out her phone.

* * *

As they headed out of the subway, Mr. Nelson still lecturing Josh and his friend Alex on respecting other cultures and not making fun of the museum displays – a lecture that had been ongoing since they left the museum – April gave a little sigh of satisfaction. Brandon had gotten tired of the science lecture pretty early and left to take pictures of the rest of the museum, but Dan and Parminder had been kind, and funny, and had let Brandon and April climb inside the display to take their pictures with the mastodon skeleton, and had been totally cool with letting April call Donnie after Brandon left so he could talk to the scientists directly. She'd even convinced Brandon to let her write the article to go with his photos. All in all, it had been a pretty good day.

"So, did you get all the shots you wanted?" April asked Brandon as they headed back toward the school.

Brandon grimaced, scrolling through photos on his camera's display. "They could have been better. This one guy kept photobombing all my shots. I don't know how he managed it, but that dude was everywhere."

A cold feeling ran through April. "Lemme see that!" She reached out and yanked on Brandon's camera until she could see the screen, only dimly registering his strangled gasp of protest as the camera's neck strap dragged him toward her. Frantically, she scrolled through his photos, but he was right. There was one face that kept showing up, over and over. But it wasn't because the same guy was everywhere. She knew that face. It had been haunting her nightmares for months.

She let go of the camera and sprinted back toward the subway, pulling out her phone as she ran. Behind her, a gasping Brandon called out, "Where are you going? We still have final attendance!"

"Tell him an emergency came up!" she called back. Typing frantically, she had time to send off one text before she plunged back underground.

* * *

Leo sighed and turned off the TV. Between the noise of Raph and Mikey continuing to practice in the pit despite there being a perfectly functional dojo just a room away, and Donnie still waxing on about the stupid mastodon, there was no point in trying to watch this episode of Space Heroes. Just as well, he supposed; it was one of the episodes during the half-season when they'd written Lieutenant Virtue out of the show, before the backlash from the fans brought her back, and while he would never admit that there was a  _bad_  episode of Space Heroes, her replacement on the show just wasn't the same, and those episodes just seemed to be...missing something.

"And then," Donnie said, waving the gadget he'd been tinkering with most of the day, "they said that the rapid freezing that the mastodon must have undergone has led to an unprecedented level of tissue preservation!"

"Wow," Raph said, attempting unsuccessfully to sweep Mikey's leg. "Imagine what my face would look like if I actually cared."

"Oh, come on!" Donnie paused to make an adjustment to his newest invention, which he claimed was a master controller that would revolutionize their gaming platforms, to Mikey's delight. Half the reason Raph was still sparring with Mikey was to get him to leave Donnie alone long enough to actually finish it. "This could teach us all kind of awesome stuff about an animal that just doesn't exist on the planet anymore. Like what they ate, or how smart they were—"

"How smart could it be if it got flash-frozen in a glacier?" This time, Raph succeeded in knocking Mikey down.

"Hey, not bad!" Mikey flipped himself back to his feet. "And it only took you half a day!"

Donnie glared at Raph. "Some catastrophic climactic events came on really fast," he protested. "It wasn't the mastodon's fault." His Tphone beeped, and his irritated expression instantly vanished. "That's April," he said, transferring his gadget to one hand so he could read the message. "I wonder if she has any more pictures—"

The controller fell from his hand, smashing into a dozen pieces on the floor. The others instantly froze, all eyes turned to Donatello, who stood clutching his Tphone in both hands, staring at the screen.

"Donnie?" Leo stepped forward, reaching for his brother. "What's wrong?"

"April." Donnie turned to Leo, his eyes wide with fear. "She found the Kraang."

They stood in stunned silence for a moment as the implications of Donnie's words sank in. Then, all eyes were on Leo. Shoving his fear for April aside, he snapped, "Where?"

"The museum," Donnie answered.

"Raph, Mikey, gear up." Nodding, the other two sprinted for the dojo. Leo turned back to Donnie. "Go. Get what you need; security's gonna be tight." Leo watched the fear drain from Donnie's face, replaced by a firm resolve. As Donnie ran for his lab, Leo raced to the dojo after the others.

It took only seconds to retrieve his katana and slide them home, the move as familiar and easy as breathing. Raph and Mikey were already heading out, Donnie's bō in Raph's hand, and Leo moved to follow them.

"Leonardo."

He paused in the doorway, turning back to face his  _sensei._  Splinter stood beneath the tree, hands clasped behind his back, seeming for all the world his usual stoic self. But Leo knew better, and could see the tension and the worry beneath Splinter's steady gaze. Splinter locked eyes with Leo, and the rat's expression hardened. "Bring her home."

Leo's eyes narrowed, and he bowed to his  _sensei_  before running after his brothers.

Donnie met them at the turnstiles, his bag slung over his shoulder, catching his bō as Raph tossed it to him. They cleared the turnstiles at a leap, and plunged into the darkness of the tunnels.

"Donnie, did you tell her to stay put?"

"I sent the message," Donnie said, Tphone in hand. "Whether or not she got it, I don't know. If she's still underground, it might not have reached her yet." He did something to his display, and frowned. "The GPS in her phone says she's already at the museum."

"Seriously?" Raph pulled up alongside Donnie as they left the subways, vaulting along a network of interconnected sewer pipes. "You put a tracker in your girlfriend's phone?"

Leo drew up on their other side. "Does she know about that?"

Donnie shot them a disgusted look. "First, she's  _not_ my girlfriend, and second, of  _course_  she knows. She thought it was a good idea in case she ever got grabbed again." He kicked off against the wall to bring him up to the upper level of piping as the others followed not far behind. "Jeez, you guys, give me some credit. I do have boundaries."

Leo snorted. "Didn't you hack into a government computer so you could postpone a military training flight because it was going to interfere with your stargazing time with April?"

Donnie blinked at him. "Okay, so they're flexible boundaries."

They ran out of piping as the sewers opened up into a swirling catchment basin. Donnie used his bō to launch himself across the vortex to the tunnel opening on the other side as Mikey swung over with his kusarigama. Leo used the pipes along the walls as stepping stones, while Raph just powered straight across.

"She'll wait for us though," Raph said as he landed, but he sounded uncertain. "She's not gonna just go charging in against the Kraang."

"This is April," Mikey pointed out. "She never means to get involved; the fighting just kind of finds her anyway." He thought about that. "She's kinda like me that way."

Leo exchanged a look with his brothers, and they redoubled their pace. It wasn't that they didn't trust April's common sense. She wouldn't intentionally go it alone against the Kraang. Just as she'd meant to stay out of the fight against the ratroach queen. But Mikey was right; trouble had a habit of seeking her out. Just a week ago, they'd almost lost her to Dogpound and the Foot, and only speed and Donnie's ingenuity had allowed them to take her back. That had shaken them, though nobody seemed to want to admit it, and now the entire family was still in something of a heightened state where April's safety was concerned. The thought of anyone else laying a hand on her filled Leo with an emotion he hadn't had a lot of experience with in his fifteen years on this Earth.

Pure, unadulterated rage.

* * *

April looked down as her silent phone buzzed with an incoming text. Pulling it out, she read it and rolled her eyes before firing off a reassuring message. Of course she wasn't going to go fight the Kraang by herself. She looked back at the building in front of her. She  _was_ , however, going to get herself in there and figure out where most of them were, and report her recon back to the guys. The more time she could save them, the faster they could get to the Kraang and stop whatever it was they were up to. And if they could hold on to one long enough, find out what it knew about her dad.

She had some time, at least. It was nearing closing time at the museum, but the sun wasn't quite down yet, and they'd need the dark for cover. She closed her eyes briefly, preparing for what she needed to do next, casting her mind back to her training session with Splinter.

* * *

_April collapsed to her knees, shaking with exhaustion. "We've been at this for hours. How much longer do I have to keep doing this?"_

_Splinter regarded her levelly. "Until you convince me that there is a cat in that tree."_

_She looked up at the decidedly empty branches above her. "But there isn't."_

_"I know." He smiled a little. "That is why getting me to look is a challenge."_

_With a noise of frustration, April buried her face in her hands. "Can you at least explain_ why _I'm doing this?"_

_"Because it is an important part of becoming ninja," he answered, raising a hand to stroke his beard. "Before weapons, before combat, you must learn the art of invisibility."_

_April looked up at him. "I'm not getting how making you look for a nonexistent cat makes me invisible." She looked at her hands. "What about the sneaky stuff, and the smoke bombs." She grinned eagerly. "Can I use smoke bombs?"_

_"No," he said. "Not yet." He sighed. "There are more ways than one to become invisible, April. My sons have learned to become one with the shadows, and to use the darkness as their ally. But for you, there is a different path. There is also an art to being invisible in plain sight."_

_April hugged her arms around herself. "I still don't understand."_

_"Think of it this way," he said. "Imagine that you wished to obtain a copy of an upcoming test at school." He paused, and pointed a finger at her, his voice going stern. "Not that you will ever,_ ever  _do this."_

_"Of course not," April said, holding up her hands._

_"Good." He placed both hands behind his back again. "Now, imagine that a teacher walks into the office as you are attempting to look at the test. Who does she supect? The student who is glancing over her shoulder and showing fear at being seen, or the student who smiles and greets the teacher with a wave?"_

_"Oh," April said, her eyes widening. "I think I get it."_

_Splinter nodded. "When you can convince someone that you belong in a place, even when that person_ knows _that you do not, you will be able to disappear even while the whole world stares at you. You are fortunate, as well; your gifts will help you with this particular skill. It is not easy to convince a person of something they know to be untrue."_

_"I still think smoke bombs would be more fun," she said. "The guys get all the good stuff."_

_"Perhaps," said Splinter, pausing only a little. "But I teach you this skill now because it is one that they_ cannot _master."_

 _It took her only a second to understand what he meant. April breathed in sharply, and looked away, unable to meet his eyes. Of course they couldn't. It didn't matter how confident they were; nobody was going to overlook a giant turtle walking around in broad daylight. It was just that they were so firmly a part of her everyday life now..._   _Her face burned as she blushed, mortified by the mistake she kept making._

_Splinter knelt before her, his knees almost touching hers. Very gently, his fingers caught her chin, and he raised her gaze to meet his. "There is no shame in forgetting that my sons are not as you are," he said softly. "They have different strengths than those that you bring to this family, it is true. But it is your very differences that complement each other's abilities. You strengthen them where they are lacking, and serve to make us more than what we were."_

_Pain lanced through her, sudden and unexpected. It was his gentleness that undid her, for in that moment, he was so much more father than_ sensei _, the grief that she walled away as part of her daily ritual slipped past her defenses and took her down._

 _Splinter, being who and what he was, knew immediately what had happened. She could see the moment he read it in her eyes. And because he was not just her_ sensei, _but also a husband and father who knew what it was to have the spectre of an absent loved one surface without warning and knock your world out from under you, he silently opened his arms._

_He was so unlike Kirby. They were night and day. Were they anything alike, she wouldn't have been able to accept that comfort without feeling like she was betraying her father. But it was those differences that allowed her to lean forward and bury her face against him, her hands clutching desperately at his robe, weeping quietly into his fur so that she didn't alert the overprotective brothers in the room beyond whose concern now would have undone her completely. For his part, he simply held her, letting the solid bulwark of his strength shore her up as one of his hands traced soothingly over her hair._

_And when exactly the right amount of time had passed, he let her go, and brushed the drying tears from her face, and placed his hands on her shoulders._

_"Now," he said. "About that cat."_

* * *

April's eyes narrowed. It was now or never. She dug out her school ID, slipping it into the lanyard she almost never wore, and slung it around her neck. Then, squaring her shoulders, she marched up the steps and through the front doors.

The Tyrannosaurus was still now behind its fence, its power off and the scientists gone for the night, but their lab coats were still draped over the chairs next to the control unit. And as she passed by, nobody noticed that there was one coat too few, or that the girl who had come through the door with her hair in a ponytail now sported glasses, a white coat, and hair loose to her shoulders.

_I'm just a grad student here to work on my thesis._

She marched past the security desk, never breaking her stride, and nodded to the guards on the desk. One of them stared at her with the look of a person who feels she really ought to recognize someone but just couldn't place her and was too embarrassed to admit it, while the other just gave her a bored wave as he typed something into his phone.

April didn't change her pace, didn't pause, didn't look back, until she was up the stairs. Then she leaned back against a wall and let her breath out in a rush. Pulling off her glasses, which only made things blurry since her contacts were already in her eyes, she shoved them away and dug out her phone, typing in a quick text and sending it. Then she headed up the stairs, keeping a sharp lookout as she went. The Kraang didn't stand a chance tonight. She was on fire.

* * *

Leo watched the confusion spread across Donnie's face as he read the message on his Tphone. "What does it say?" Leo asked.

"'The cat is in the tree.'" Donnie read back, and looked at Leo. "I have no idea what she means."

"Maybe it's a secret code," Mikey said. "Oooh, I know. Tell her 'the frog croaks at midnight.'"

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Raph demanded.

Mikey crossed his arms. "Spy stuff. You wouldn't understand." He ducked Raph's annoyed swipe and hid behind Leo, sticking his tongue out at his brother.

"What do we do now?" Donnie asked. He turned his face up to the manhole cover, and the thin beams of light still trickling through it.

"We wait," said Leo.

Donnie sighed, and his face, dappled with light from above, was tense with anxiety. As Mikey and Raph got into a game of keepaway with Mikey's Tphone, Leo moved closer to Donnie. "She'll be okay," he said quietly.

"I know," said Donnie. "I'm just gonna stand here and worry anyway, if it's all the same to you."

"I'll just keep you company then," said Leo, and placed an arm around Donnie's shoulders. Without looking away from the manhole, Donnie raised his hand to cover Leo's in wordless gratitude. Letting Mikey and Raph deal with their concerns in their own way, they watched the fading of the light that barred them from their April as effectively as any physical barrier.

Leo had meant it when he said she'd be fine.

He'd just feel a whole lot better when he could make sure of that fact himself.

* * *

April knelt in front of the "Life on the Forest Floor" display, idly pretending to make notes on the clipboard she'd liberated from a student from another school; he'd been happy to turn it over, glad to be able to tell his teacher that it had been stolen while he was doing his assignment. From what April had seen of his answers, before she'd put her glasses back on and made everything blurry again, that was probably for the best. His answers were… creative, she'd give him that. For question seven, "Find and describe the sample of Earth's oldest rock (12). Based on how it formed, what major rock group does it below to?", he'd drawn a fairly good representation of Keith Richards over the (12) and written "The Rolling Stones" in as his answer. She grinned. Maybe she could save this and show it to Donnie later. He could use a laugh.

Her smile slipped away as she heard an unpleasantly familiar hydraulic whirr. She caught her breath, letting her hair fall in front of her face as she bent over the clipboard.  _Just a grad student doing research. Don't mind me._

The Kraang walked behind her, joining the other one that she'd been tracking on the other side of the giant sequoia slice. She hunched deeper into her lab coat as it passed, and frowned. The Kraang she'd tracked was in their normal human suit, but this one was wearing an AMNH security uniform.

_Something tells me I'm not gonna like this._

She shifted, casually moving to another display, frowning at the text as she knelt down, unhurried.  _Be invisible. I'm just part of the scenery._

Straining, she listened for conversation on the other side of the sequoia.  _Come on, you alien jerkwads. Tell me what your plan is._

"Kraang. Are the plans in place for the time that is known as closing for the place that is this place that is called the American Museum of Natural History?"

"Yes, Kraang. At the time that is known as closing in the place that is this place that is called the American Museum of Natural history, the humans known as security will be changing to the formation that is called 'the night shift.'"

"Kraang, at the time that is known as closing—"

April quietly banged her head against the clipboard.  _Oh my GOD, can you PLEASE just finish a sentence?_

"—and at that time that is the time just after the time that is known as closing, the members of the formation that is known as 'night shift' will be Kraang."

April's eyes widened. They were going to replace the night shift with Kraang? Why?

"Excellent. This place is a good place for the testing of the stasis cannon, Kraang. The one who is our contact in this place tells Kraang that the ones known as 'grad students' are replaceable and will not be missed."

Biting her lip to keep in the little gasp, April held the clipboard to her chest. They were going hurt the grad students? Well, they could have Steve, but she had to do something to warn Dan and Parminder. There was no way she was just going to sit there and let the Kraang test out some kind of new weapon on her friends.

" _Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. May I have your attention please. The museum will be closing shortly. Would all visitors please proceed to the exit. Thank you, and we hope you enjoyed your day at the museum."_

April rose slowly to her feet, careful not to call any undue attention to herself, and wandered slowly back through the meandering displays of the New York State environment until she reached the stairs. She climbed without hurrying, nodding to the people she passed by and holding the clipboard in front of her in an official sort of way. When she reached the fourth floor, she made her way quickly to the mastodon skeleton and climbed inside the enclosure. Dan and Parminder had been kidding each other about their late night; she was pretty sure they'd be sticking around after the museum closed. She just had to convince security that she belonged here, too.

The jingling of keys alerted her, and she bent over the mastodon's toe, poking it with a pen and adding a moustache to the drawing of Keith Richards. Glancing up over the rim of her glasses, she noted with a small sigh of relief that the security guards approaching her weren't Kraang. She flipped her ID so that it faced her, only the back showing outward, and continued to poke at the mastodon and make notes on her clipboard until one of the guards cleared his throat.

"Oh, hey," April said, looking up, and rolled her eyes. "Steve sent me to double check some measurements." She huffed. "Like I couldn't do it right the first time."

The throat clearer offered her a smile. "Think you're gonna be long?"

She looked down at her clipboard and back up at him. "Another five minutes? And then an eternity in the lab."

"No rest for the wicked," the other guard said.

"You guys get to go home now?" She laughed. "Must be nice. I'm gonna be lucky if I actually get to sleep tonight given how Mr. Slavedriver works."

Throat clearer laughed. "Don't let him push you around too much. Have a good night." He pulled a radio off his belt and held down the talk button. "Control, this is four south, we have one staff, floor is clear."

"Night!" April called as they headed off, and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks again,  _Sensei_ ," she whispered under her breath. Her phone buzzed again, and she pulled it out, frowning at the text.  _ **The goose is loosing its feathshststshsr.**_

She opened a new message and typed quickly.  _ **Donnie, tell Mikey to quit texting me spy notes and Raph to stop hitting him. Kraang are going after grad students. Going to try to warn them.**_

An instant later, her phone buzzed again.  _ **Don't! Stay put! It's almost dark.**_

She stared at the phone, worrying her lip between her teeth. It wasn't long till dark. They'd be here soon…

April looked up, and her jaw set in resolution as she climbed out of the mastodon display. It wasn't that she wanted to go against Donnie's warning. But her friends were in danger. And if she could keep one more person from going missing like her father…

_**Heading for the mastodon lab. Meet you there.** _

She ignored the subsequent flurry of buzzing text messages as she made her way down to the curatorial entrance. She wasn't going to go after the Kraang. She wasn't stupid. She was just going to get the grad students out… by telling them that they were about to be experimented on with an alien death ray by a bunch of brains in robot bodies.

She smacked the clipboard against her head. Okay, so that part of the plan needed work.

She realized the second flaw in her plan when she reached the door to the lab and found herself faced with a small black panel bearing a line of glowing red along the top. Right. Steve had use his ID badge as a keycard to let them through the door, and though April's school ID might have fooled the security guards, it wasn't going to get her past an electronic lock. And Donnie and his electronic lockpick where nowhere near to being close. Sighing, she leaned her head against it the door, and gave it a kick for good measure.

Around her, the lights illuminating the displays in the gallery began to shut down, until only faint overhead lights illuminating the walkways between them remained. What had been detailed and interesting displays of various indigenous peoples became dim figures lurking in shadow, her overactive imagination almost making it seem like they were moving.

She shook her head.  _Focus, April. Just get through the door._ Maybe if she found the guards and told them her badge wasn't working… no. No, that wouldn't work. They'd want to see it, and the Roosevelt High ID wasn't going to pass close scrutiny. Or even distant scrutiny. Maybe—

"Hey! What are you doing out of the lab?"

April whirled, her heart kicking into overdrive. She knew that pretentious, arrogant voice.

Steve's eyes went wide. "You!" He pointed a finger at her. "Annoying question girl!"

"You!" April pointed back. "Pompous windbag!"

A dark expression spread across Steve's face, and he grabbed her arm just above the elbow, dragging her away from the door. "I don't know how you got in here, but you are in so much trouble, little girl. The police are going to be called about this."

"Ow," April said, pulling against his hold. Splinter's training meant that she could break it pretty easily, but she didn't know if she wanted to reveal that much about herself just yet. "Listen, you need to tell the others, you're all in danger."

Steve snorted. "Please. Even your lying is uninspired."

"I'm not lying," April protested. "There are these guys, they're going to replace your security guards—"

She broke off, horrified. The Kraang were replacing the night shift. He was taking her to security. He was taking her straight to the Kraang. "Please," she said, "you have to listen to me—"

"I don't have to listen to anything you say." He pulled her up to another door with a glowing security panel, and fumbled for his badge. "Smart-alec kids think you can get away with whatever… stupid thing. Will you  _read_  already?"

He let go of her arm to press the badge more firmly against the lock, and she slowly took a step backward.

Which was when a hand covered her mouth, and arms as strong and unyielding as steel dragged her into the darkness.

* * *

 

"Comfort" commission by [eleganceliberty](http://eleganceliberty.tumblr.com/)

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing as much as I can off research here, but I'm also taking a LOT of liberties with the AMNH, so if anybody out there feels the need to correct anything, I probably already know. Chalk it up to artistic license. :o) Dan's shirt originally said "I 8 pi (and it was delicious)", but ff .net can't handle the pi symbol, and the joke doesn't really work without it.


	29. History Bites: Act 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the plot thickens

 

 

 

 

**History Bites, Act Two**

* * *

 

To say that Steve did not take April's disappearance well was putting it mildly. He stormed around the displays for quite some time, stamping his feet angrily and calling out extremely uncomplimentary things about April.

"You stupid, smug, bratty little child," was one such example. "When I get my hands on you… I'll… I'll… It'd serve you right if you had a little accident going down the stairs! That would teach you some respect!"

His tirade took him around a temporary display set up in the middle of the Hall of South American Peoples. Sponsored by the Peruvian embassy and constructed with the help of local art and history students as part of a massive inter-school project that had been the talk of the museum for weeks, the display featured a diorama of Sican villagers on a hunt in a very realistic jungle.

Within the depths of the jungle undergrowth, darkened due to the fact that most of the overhead lights had been turned off for the night, April watched Steve storm toward the other end of the room and tugged at the hand covering her mouth until it moved away. "Wow. I really made him angry."

"Shhh," Leo hissed softly, his other arm still around her waist.

"I'll say," Raph said from the bushes to April's immediate left. "I'm not much liking what he has to say, either. He's kinda making me want to punch him. A lot. Leo, can I go punch him?"

"No," said Donnie from their right, as Steve started criticizing April's hair and overall physique. "Because I'm gonna punch him."

"Guys," Mikey whispered from the branches of the fiberglass tree above them. "You know  _Sensei_  always says that meaningless violence isn't the answer."

Steve drifted back toward them, the incoherent ranting of his tirade becoming clear just in time to hear "-it'll wipe those stupid freckles right off your smug face!"

Mikey's expression darkened and he added, "except now. First one there gets to punch him."

"Guys," Leo hissed. "Nobody is punching anybody!" Steve started in on speculations about April's parentage, some of which was extremely questionable and highly improbable, and all of which was entirely inappropriate. Leo's eyes widened. "Except maybe me."

"Hey!" came a three-part chorus from around them, and April rolled her eyes.

"Guys!" She poked Leo's shoulder, and he let go of her waist. "We've got bigger problems here. The Kraang are going to do something to the grad students. We can't let that happen."

"You're right, April." Leo rested his hand on her shoulder as Steve finally gave up and vanished back into the research section of the museum. "First things first. What exactly are the Kraang planning?"

She sat back in the artificial grass as the guys gathered around her. "I overheard them talking about how they're going to replace the security guards on the night shift with Kraang, and then test some kind of stasis thingy on the grad students." She gestured at the darkened lights around them. "It's the night shift. We don't have a lot of time, here."

"Okay, okay," Leo soothed. "First things first. It'll go faster if you're with us and can show us where to go." He looked at her thoughtfully. "Are you armed?"

April folded her arms and raised a brow at him. "Yeah, Leo. Cause walking into school with weapons is gonna go over  _real_  well."

"Right, sorry," Leo said, raising his hands and looking around the exhibition. He walked over to one of the warriors and pulled the bow out of the mannequin's hands, handing it to April. "Has Splinter been teaching you to use one of these?"

"Just a little," April admitted. "We just started."

Raph grabbed an arrow out of the warrior's quiver. "Okay, then, let's see how good you are." He gestured to a basket set several feet away from another mannequin. "How close can you get to the basket?"

April took the arrow from him, looking to the turtles gathered around her. They drew a little closer in anticipation, Mikey giving her an encouraging smile as she nocked the arrow. With a deep breath, she drew the arrow back to her cheek, sighting along it toward the basket. Another deep breath to steady herself, and she released.

The arrow sped through the air, embedding itself through the head of the mannequin next to Raphael. He leaped back with a shriek, his hand coming down on the bare chest of one of the female mannequins. "Gyah! Sorry ma'am!" he yelped, pulling his hand back as though he'd been burned.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Donnie patted April's head. "Don't worry," he said. "It takes lots of practice."

"Um, I call new rule," said Mikey. "April doesn't shoot that thing unless all four of us are  _behind_  her."

"Good rule," Leo said dryly, handing April a quiver of arrows.

Her cheeks burning, April took it and slung it over her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. No arguments from me." She turned a plaintive look toward Leo. "Can we  _please_  rescue the grad students n-"

Her plea was abruptly cut off as Leo covered her mouth again. She would have protested, but he'd gone distant, that glazed look in his eyes that told her the ninja was firmly in control. She chanced a look around at the others, and a small shiver chased up her spine as she saw that each of the others had gone just as eerily still.

Then, she heard what had set Leo off. Hydraulic whirring. A lot of it. Coming slowly closer to where they hid… and to the door that would lead them to the lab full of tired grad students working late on the mastodon project.

A sharp gesture from Leo had them vanishing, and April found herself dragged in Mikey's wake, Donnie not far behind, as they moved to the edges of the display, waiting for the Kraang to come into view. "Stay here and stay hidden," Donnie whispered in April's ear, and she nodded as a host of identical Kraang, each dressed as an AMNH security guard, marched into view.

April's hand tightened on the bow, her breath coming shorter. She turned to ask Donnie a question, but he wasn't there. A quick glance to her other side showed her that Mikey was gone, too. She was alone in the jungle. Biting her lip, she sank deeper into the undergrowth, trying very, very hard not to be seen.

Which was when the first Kraang security officer used its keycard to open the door to the curatorial section. As soon as the keypad went green and the Kraang yanked the door open, a sai flew from the shadows, embedding itself in the Kraang's skull. The robot went down and the door swung closed with a clang on the inert body, the robot shell propping the door open as the Kraang within burst free and went screaming for cover.

An instant later, all hell broke loose. Bursts of light illuminated the shadowed displays as the Kraang yanked laser guns from beneath their uniform jackets and fired indiscriminately into the darkness overhead. April watched, eyes wide, as a dark shadow fell, taking down a Kraang near the door. Raph yanked his other sai out of the fallen robot's head and rejoined the fray.

Her turtles moved like phantoms through the pools of light from the emergency tracks overhead, Kraang falling like dominoes as they struck. But even as they fought, more kept coming. For every one they felled, another took its place. April leaned forward anxiously, watching as Leo knocked Raph out of the way of a laser blast, so focused on the scene unfolding that she didn't hear the whirring until it was too late. She cried out as a cold metal hand grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her hiding spot.

"Kraang." The robot said, turning to the one next to it as April kicked futilely at its legs. "Inform Kraang that Kraang has located an additional human test subject."

"Put me down, you creep!" April cried, attempting to get at the robot's arm with her teeth.

"Kraang will be pleased with the addition of additional human test subjects to the test which will be commencing—"

The robot's words died in a shower of sparks as the sickle blade of Mikey's kusarigama hooked around the Kraangdroid's neck and ripped its head off. Before the one holding her could react, a blade flashed out of the darkness, severing the arm holding her. As she dropped to the ground, the backswing of Donnie's bō laid it out flat on the ground. A green, three-fingered hand grabbed her arm, warm where the Kraang's had been cold, and hauled her back behind the shelter of two very solid shells.

"She is  _not_  just some human test subject," Donnie snapped, his bō whirling in front of him and his voice as cold as she had ever heard it. "And I've got a thing or two to teach anyone who tries to experiment on my April." His bō stopped as he shifted into an attack stance and cast a wicked grin over his shoulder. "Mikey, care to be my teaching assistant on this one?"

Mikey's nunchucks whirled as he stepped forward. "Yeah, I'd say there are things I'd like to school these losers on."

With twin cries of fury, the boys launched themselves at the advancing Kraang. April moved to fit an arrow to her bowstring, but an arm around her waist yanked her off her feet before she could finish the move. "Le-e-e-o," she gasped, her teeth chattering as he bore her over and around displays, dodging Kraang blasts with every leap. "Wha-a-at are yo-o-ou-"

Her protest cut short as he dumped her on her feet in front of the curatorial door, the fallen robot still propping it open. "Go," he shouted. "Get the students out of here! We'll hold them off!"

She hesitated, and he threw out his hand, his face a mask of authority. " _Go!_ "

Without another word, April turned and fled down a dim corridor, the sounds of battle fading away behind her.

* * *

April's breath came harsh in her lungs as she pounded down endless corridors, frantically searching for signs to direct her to the DNA sequencing lab. The museum's bright, welcoming aesthetic apparently only extended to the public parts of the building; the curatorial corridors were all a uniform beige, marked by dark scuff marks and occasional divots in the drywall from years of museum staff pushing heavy carts and trolleys with stiff and wobbly wheels that occasionally veered off to collide with the wall. The doors were an orange so bright it hurt the eyes, which could only have been attractive to someone experimenting with a host of mind-altering substances in the seventies.

_Come on, come on_ , April thought to herself, cursing the profound lack of signage. Apparently everyone who worked here knew their way around the warren of dimly-lit corridors without needing any help.  _You've done this once, April. You can remember the way._

She paused for breath, leaning against a wall and looking around. The scientists and grad students had attempted to spruce up the scuffed and dingy walls with posters relating to their research, and she appeared to be getting closer. She'd gone through posters extolling the joys of Ordovician sea life and Triassic reptiles, and she seemed to be getting into the Cretaceous dinosaurs now.

"Great," she panted. "I only have to run for another 65 million years." But as she brought her ragged breathing under control and her heart stopped beating so loudly that it drowned out everything else, she heard a faint noise trickling down the corridors. She furrowed her brow, tilting her head to listen, and then found herself breaking out into a massive grin.

It was "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner.

"Oh,  _thank_ you, science geeks," April breathed, and resumed her run down the corridor, following the strains of music.

It took a couple more turns of the corridor before she finally found the mastodon lab, the music blasting by this point. She skidded to a halt, grabbing the doorframe for support and scaring the wits out of two grad students who were busy dancing around the climate-controlled box containing the frozen mastodon remains.

"Gyyahhh, I'm sorry we're working we—" one began, before he got a good look at her. "Hey. You're not my advisor. Who are you?"

A few other heads stuck out of various doors and out from behind assorted computers at the pronouncement. One, at least, was familiar. "Parminder!" April ran over to her with a sigh of relief. "Listen to me, you're all in serious trouble. You need to get out of here!"

"April?" Parminder said, rising to her feet. "Are you  _insane_? Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in right now?"

"It doesn't matter," April insisted, grabbing her by the wrist and tugging. "I'm serious, you guys have to get out of here. It's an emergency!"

"Kyle, call security," Parminder said to a boy on the other side of the lab, who nodded and went toward a phone.

"No Kyle,  _don't_  call security!" April protested, "Please, you have to believe me!"  _Don't say alien robots. Don't say alien robots._  "There's a bunch of guys with guns. They're after the mummy. You've got to go before they get here!"

A few of the other students looked at one another uneasily, but Parminder wasn't impressed. Gone was the open, funny woman who had humoured April and Donnie earlier that afternoon. Parminder's face was a mask of anger. "April, if you think we're leaving this mastodon unattended, you are delusional. If there was any real emergency, there'd be an alarm."

Almost immediately, strobe lights mounted on the wall began pulsing as the old bell fire alarms beneath them began to ring in a series of intermittent pulses. The alarms, old bells that had probably been in the museum since it was built, were old enough that the pulses didn't quite synch up, and the alarm traveled in cascading waves down the hallway before beginning again.

April looked up at Parminder's shocked face and shrugged. "See?"

* * *

Mikey slid down the wall, rubbing his head, as the others rounded on him.  _"Mikey!"_

"What?" he protested, flipping backward onto his feet again as a Kraang droid pounced on the spot where he'd been. He delivered a kick that sent it crashing into the wall, crushing its head and sending the Kraang within fleeing for safety. "I didn't  _ask_  it to throw me into the fire alarm."

"Heads up!" Raph, grappling with one of the security droids, jerked his head toward the doorway to the labs. "A couple of them are following April."

"On it!" Donnie disengaged with a sweep of his bō and bolted toward the door.

Eyes widening, Leo launched himself after his brother on an incercept course, tackling him to the ground just in time for the laser cannon blast to miss Donnie's head and set the wall on fire instead. A well-flung shuriken took out the Kraang droid with the gun, and Leo glanced down to make sure his brother was unhurt. But Donnie only had eyes for the doorway.

"April…" Donnie breathed.

* * *

Parminder looked warily at the strobing light as a chorus of increasingly worried conversation swelled behind them.

"Seriously, Parminder. You have to get out of here." April tugged at Parminder's arm.

The grad student stared at her dubiously before she gave a sigh of resignation, barely audible above the pulsing of the alarms. "Fine. But you're coming with us and we're going to have a talk after we evacuate." She turned, calling over her shoulder. "Come on people, let's go! Last one out locks the door!"

Taking firm hold of April's arm, Parminder pulled her into the corridor. As they left the confines of the lab, April had only a few seconds to register what she was seeing. With a gasp, she threw herself against the grad student, tackling her out of the way as laser fire peppered the doorway overhead.

Parminder looked at the charred scorch marks, and gave an incredulous, "Huh." She looked up at April. "Okay, I believe you."

Screaming erupted around them as the organized chaos of the lab descended into complete disarray, graduate students rushing between offices and tables as laser fire continued to rain on the doorway. April shoved Parminder out of the way and kicked the door closed, bracing it with her back against it. One of the fleeing students tripped over her feet and went sprawling, and April grabbed his shirt. "You got a back way out of here?"

The student blinked at her bemusedly. "Yeah, it's in the back."

April looked at Parminder, who rolled her eyes. "Come on." She grabbed the other student, hauling him to his feet.

"Go," April said. "I'll be right behind you."

Grabbing a stool, she wedged it beneath the door handle, bracing it as best she could. It wasn't much against armed alien robots, but with any luck it would hold long enough to get the others out. As the screaming began to fade toward the back of the lab, April left the stool and ran for the back, coming up against a knot of students cramming themselves into a narrow hallway. April followed, letting herself be carried on the wave of students, until they came to a junction and Parminder was waiting.

The grad student grabbed April's elbow, her face a mask of worry as the students streamed past her down the left branch of the corridor. "I can't find Dan!" Then she added, almost as an afterthought, and with much less concern, "or Steve."

April frowned for a minute before her eyes went wide. "Test subject," she breathed. Reaching up, she grabbed Parminder's shoulders. "You get the others out." She gestured down the right-hand corridor. "What's down there?"

"Umm…." Parminder's brow furrowed. "The Hayden Sphere." She caught April's look, and elaborated. "The planetarium."

"Okay, you keep going. I'll go look for Dan."

"But—"

"Go!" April shoved Parminder down the hall after the others. Parminder slowed, conflict written large in her expression. Then, she turned, and fled after the others. As the sounds of the lab door breaking echoed down the hall behind her, April spun on her heel and ran.

Her footsteps fell in time with the pulsing of the alarms as she raced down the halls, coming up at last against the door clearly marked as access to the public section of the museum. And for the first time, she had cause to be grateful to the alarm, since all of the locked doors had automatically released to let people exit in case of a fire. She hit the crash bar running, stumbling out into the shining atrium, and her gaze was drawn immediately to the massive Hayden Sphere hanging like a giant metal bubble overhead. "Whoa," she breathed.

"Nnngh….April?" came a weak voice.

April turned, and there, in the shadow of the spiral walkway, was a ragged figure hunched over another. "Dan!" She ran over, taking in his bedraggled appearance. His hair was more mussed than usual, his flannel was torn, and his glasses askew on his face. Steve, still in his lab coat, was sprawled at Dan's feet, drooling onto the floor. "Are you okay?"

"He went nuts," Dan said quietly. "He was screaming something about tests, and robots, and he had a gun." He straightened his glasses and gestured at the strobing lights. "But when everything went berzerk, I managed to hit him."

"Thank goodness," April said, grabbing his hand and turning for the exit. "Come on, the others are already out. We have to-ggyyaaaahh!"

Her body jerked as a feeling like the stinging of a thousand bees spread across her skin, and she collapsed, her limbs utterly unresponsive as she stared up in horror at Dan.

"Sorry April," Dan said casually. "You probably should have gone with the others. I was gonna bring them Steve, but when the alarms went off he tried to be a hero, and the dude weighs a ton." He pocketed the alien device in his hand and reached down, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder. "You're a lot easier to carry."

"Wh—why?" She managed to force out between numb lips.

"Nothing personal, kiddo. But do you have any idea how much tuition costs? These guys were willing to pay good money for access to the mastodon, and even more for test subjects."

"But...Your friends?"

"Hey," he shrugged. "Grad students are a dime a dozen. Nobody notices when they leave, and there's always someone new to replace them."

As the shock of whatever the device had done began to wear off, April started to struggle. "Can't…trust them."

"They haven't let me down so far. Now stop fighting or I'll have to zap you again, and you see how well that worked for Steve."

Clenching her jaw, April raised her hand and jammed her thumb into the nerve cluster in the middle of Dan's back, as Splinter had taught her. He let out a cry and dropped to his knees, and April went tumbling free as his glasses skidded along with her. Glancing down, she let out a cry of disgust. "There's no prescription in these lenses!" As someone who actually needed her glasses, she was mortally insulted. She pushed herself up on her knees. "Is  _everything_ about you phony?"

"Kraang has located the one who is Kraang's informant inside the place that is known as the Museum of Natural History."

Cursing, April glanced up at the spiral walkway to the planetarium. Rows of identical Kraang looked down from the ring above their heads, every expression eerily impassive.

"Hey," Dan said, gasping a little as he staggered to his feet. "I brought you that test subject you wanted."

"Insufficient," said one of the Kraang. April couldn't even tell which. "The one known as Dan promised Kraang multiple test subjects. The one known as Dan did not indicate that alarms would be sounded. The plan must accelerate to the stage known as final."

One of the Kraang moved, something glowing between his hands, and April's eyes widened in alarm.

"But….but…" Dan stammered. "You guys said—"

The Kraang wasted no more words. April tried to run, but her legs were still numb from the shock, and she crashed back to her knees, unable to do anything more than stare in horror at the glowing wave of mutagen hurtling down toward her.

 

* * *

"[History Bites](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/96266092671/chapter-history-bites-act-2-of-falling)" by Ruslanan

[I got your shell](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/I-Got-Your-Shell-525867409) by HeartOfAnAlterEgo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Act two begins! This is the point at which I start taking a loooot of liberties with the layout of the AMNH, but I'm still trying to keep it as real as I can. There's also a reason I'm updating this quickly after the last one. Lea-nardo / fivefootoh on tumblr creates adorable art and writes incredibly sweet and fun roleplays, and you should all go follow her. This chapter is hers.
> 
> Happy birthday, Lea!


	30. History Bites: Act 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a new villain is unleashed (and we now know why April's phone tracked to the Museum of Natural History)

**History Bites: Act Three**

* * *

 

Pain blossomed across her chest, tearing through her and stopping the breath in her lungs. There were screams in the air, but they weren't hers – no sound would come to her past the crushing vice around her ribs. Time slowed to a crawl. She was falling. No, she was flying. And there were hands holding her. Familiar, beloved hands. The touch of callused scales gripping her shoulders and calling her back to herself.

"April? April!"

"Oh, man, did you guys  _see_  that? I got you right out from under the ooze April!"

"April?"

"April, did you hear me? April."

"She can't breathe! Help me get this off her!"

Faces, crowding around her. Streaks of colour over green. Red. Raphael. His hands at her chest, loosening the chain wrapped around her middle. Orange. Michelangelo. Still holding the other end of the chain, a stricken look on his face. Blue and purple. Leonardo and Donatello, guarding behind. And light, so much light, pouring up from below, and the silhouette of a human form growing, twisting, changing….

And then the chains fell away, and she could breathe again. Time renewed its normal speed, and sound returned. The sound of Dan screaming, overlaid with the hail of Kraang fire.

"We've gotta move,  _now_! _"_ Leo called.

Raph's hand closed around her wrist. With a jerk and a tug, she found herself slammed breathlessly against his shell. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck more out of instinct than anything, and he rose to his feet, sai in one hand, the other reaching around to hold her against his back. "Got her. Let's go."

April let out a gasp as Raph launched into motion, weaving in and out of the rain of laser fire, and she finally understood where they were. The boys – no,  _Mikey_ – had managed to pluck her out of the centre of the space beneath the Hayden Sphere, and were now carrying her along one of the struts that held the sphere in place as the Kraang fired at them from the circular pathway below. A few of the Kraang had managed to climb up to the strut along which they ran, and April flinched as one of the robot faces loomed in front of her, but a sweep of Raph's sai sent it flying, and the boys made short work of the others.

Far below them, Dan still writhed in the glowing puddle of mutagen. Only he wasn't Dan anymore. He'd doubled in size, thick orange hair sprouting all over his body as his face twisted, elongating into a long, prehensile trunk as tusks began to erupt from his jaws.

Of course. He'd been working in the mastodon lab before attacking Steve.

_Looks like the Kraang got their test subject after all._

* * *

Small security lights hung like stars in the arcing darkness of the ceiling overhead. In the centre of it hung the blue, swirling globe of the Earth, still on despite it being after hours. She supposed the Kraang weren't really that concerned with the museum's carbon footprint. From their hiding place in the lee of a giant boulder in the Hall of Planet Earth, April could almost forget what had just happened to Dan.

What had almost happened to her.

She winced as Donnie's probing fingers touched a particularly sore spot, and glanced down. She was holding up her shirt, hiked up to expose her ribs, and though ordinarily that would have made Donnie turn a particularly funny shade of pink, he was all clinical detachment now as he examined her ribs with the aid of a flashlight. Mottled purple bruises were spreading across her skin, darkening as she watched.

"Well?" Leo asked quietly, though his attention was focused outward, his larger sword still in his hand, on guard against intruders.

"Nothing broken," Donnie murmured, turning off the flashlight and raising his gaze to April's with an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine. Just some nasty bruising." Raising his voice just a little, he added, "this is why we  _don't_ use kusarigama on people we _like_  who aren't wearing armour."

Mikey sat quietly atop the rock wall some distance away, hunched in on himself, toying with his kusarigama chain. At Donnie's words, he hunched further, his head retreating halfway into his shell. April frowned, looking up at him, but a thought occurred to her, and she looked back at Donnie in alarm. "What happened to Steve?" she asked. "I mean, the guy's a jerk, but—"

"Don't worry about him," Raph said. "I grabbed him while the Kraang were busy blah-blah-blah-ing about the final stage thing and stuffed him in a vent. He's not gonna be happy when he wakes up, but he's not gonna be a mutant, either. Also, you dropped these." Grinning, he held out the bow and arrows they'd confiscated from the Sican display, and April let out a quiet exclamation of glee. "Aww, Raph, you brought me weapons! I have the best brothers."

"You'd better believe it," Raph replied.

"Raph, Donnie, get over here," Leo said. "We need to figure out the best way to stop the Kraang and get ourselves out of this mess."

Donnie started in that direction, but paused by display of towering grey and yellow rocks with an excited, "Ooh! Sulfide chimneys!"

With a roll of his eyes, Raph rubbed April's head and went to join his brothers. "Stop being a dork and get over here," he said, grabbing Donnie's mask tails and dragging him over to Leo, protesting all the way, until April couldn't help smiling. But her smile quickly faded as she looked over at the fourth brother still seated on top of the wall. Shouldering her bow, she climbed the wall, managing to hide her winces of pain, and sat next to him, her feet dangling over the edge.

He was still staring at the chain between his hands, and he let out a soft sigh. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" April asked quietly. "Saving my life? Yeah, I've got some wicked bruises, but I don't have tusks and a serious body hair problem." He looked up at her then, and she could see the traces of a smile playing on his face. "I mean, high school is bad enough  _now_. Could you imagine having to go through it with a trunk? And shaving off all that hair…" she shuddered. "No  _thank_  you. I'm much happier staying me."

He was definitely grinning now. "You sure? Cause I think you'd look nice with big flappy ears..."

"Nuh-uh. Think of the size of Q-tip I'd have to use. I'm much happier this way." She nudged him. "And that's thanks to you."

He looked down at the kusarigama again. "I still shouldn't have hurt you."

"You didn't mean to," she said gently. "And I'll be fine. No harm done. Unlike Dan." She sighed. "Poor Dan. I guess we can't really call him that anymore. He's gonna need a new name." Mikey glanced up at her, and she nudged him again. "Come on."

"I dunno..." he said.

"Come oooon," she wheedled. "You know you want to. Do it, Mikey. Do it."

Mikey whipped the kusarigama back into its nunchuck formation and threw up his hands. "Oh, for crying out loud.  _MastoDan_! It's totally a no-brainer."

She stared at him for a second, and burst out laughing. "Oh! Oh, that's a good one." Grinning she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You're the best, Mikey."

He didn't say anything in response. But his arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to his side. She wrapped her arms around him, content to just be the comfort he needed her to be right now, and taking comfort in his strength in turn. As much as getting the weighted end of the kusarigama in her sternum had hurt, it had been a one in a million shot that had saved her from losing herself in addition to everything else that had already been taken from her. And only Mikey could have done it. With a little sigh, she rested her head against his shoulder and turned her attention back to his brothers.

"Can someone explain to me why we can't just get  _out_  of here now that we've got April," Raph demanded.

"The same reason April came  _in_ here in the first place," Leo snapped. "The Kraang are up to something, and accidentally mutating Dan—"

" _Masto_ Dan," Mikey corrected.

The brothers groaned collectively, Donnie and Raph wearily rubbing their eyes while Leo just looked unimpressed. "—MastoDan," he continued, "doesn't mean they got what they wanted. This stasis thing they were planning on testing on the students is still around somewhere, and I'd rather we track it down and break it  _now_  before they get the idea to test it on anyone else."

"And the fact that there's a giant prehistoric mutant running around?" said Raph, arms folded across his chest.

"He's a student at one of the most prestigious learning institutions in the country," Donnie said. "He's got to have more intelligence than to hang around this place while there are Kraang around."

A low, distant rumble shook the ground beneath them, echoing like thunder throughout the hall. The massive bronze globe at the centre of the hall broke free of its pillar and fell to the ground like the shot of a canon, rolling toward the door at the far end of the hall. Which was fortunate, since it mowed down the first wave of Kraang pouring through it.

"Run!" Leo cried.

Mikey's arm tightened around April's waist, and she let out a stifled cry as they went backward off the wall, Mikey cushioning her fall as they landed. Donnie had started sprinting toward her as soon as the rumble began, and he skidded to a halt next to them as a rain of laser fire peppered the air where he'd been a moment before.

Huddled between Donnie and Mikey, April peered from behind their makeshift fortress at Leo and Raph, who were pinned behind the banded iron formation on the other side of the room. The air between them was filled with deadly, singing light.

"Scatter," Leo hissed. "We'll meet back up once we shake them."

Donnie nodded, and then all four brothers exchanged one of those  _looks_  that April still wasn't quite part of. As one, Mikey and Leo raised their hands and dropped them, and the room filled with thick purple smoke. April held her breath, eyes stinging, and felt a familiar three-fingered hand grasp hers, yanking her toward the nearest doorway under cover of the smoke.

They hit the crash bar running, fairly tumbling over each other in their haste to get out of the hall, and as they ran, April's footsteps and harsh breathing echoing off the walls around them, April could hear the steady hydraulic whirring of the Kraang that followed in relentless pursuit.

* * *

"So what now, chief?"

Leo frowned as he peered around a totem pole, but it looked like they'd finally shaken the Kraang that were pursuing them. Leaning back against the wall, he let out a breath and looked back at Raph. "We let Donnie, Mikey, and April track down the stasis beam thing, and you and me go after MastoDan."

"Do I get to hit him?" Raph asked, pounding a hand into his fist.

Leo cast him a feral grin. "I'd say that's a distinct possibility."

"Good," said Raph, resting a hand against Leo's shell as he peered around him. "I like it when your plans involve me hitting stuff."

Leo blinked at him. "My plans always involve you hitting stuff."

"I know. But this time stuff  _really_  deserves it."

His expression darkened, just a little, and Leo nodded. He couldn't argue with that. The mutants they fought  _always_ deserved it, but this one… he'd made it personal. And nobody messed with their family like that and got away with it. Darting from their hiding place, he dashed for the end of the hall, Raph at his heels. Avoiding the conspicuous central corridor, they used the tops of the display cases as their road, leaping from case to case as they made their way in search of the jerk who'd tried to sell their sister to the Kraang.

* * *

The Kraang at the end of the corridor looked at one another and back at the empty hallway. "At what time does Kraang think the ones known as the turtles will be coming to this place to encounter the formation known as ambu—"

The Kraang's words cut off in a shower of sparks, and the second Kraang recoiled at the arrow sticking through its partner's head. "The formation known as ambush has proved ineffective as it has become the thing that is known as—"

And with that, two shuriken took the second one down.

"See? What did I tell you?" April said, dropping from the rafters into Donnie's waiting arms. "Get them while they're trying to finish a sentence."

There was a clattering from down the hall, followed by a metallic shout. "Kraang has been taken offline! All Kraang will move to the aid of Kraang!"

"Guys, let's book it!" Mikey shouted, as a new wave of Kraang poured down the corridor.

They took off, April pounding down the hallway between the two turtles. Ducking her head with a yelp as a rain of laser fire poured overhead, she squared her shoulders and did her best to keep up with the boys.

A series of beeps sounded from Donnie's Tphone and he pulled it out, staring in disbelief at the screen. "Leo wants us to figure out what's going on with the stasis ray," he said. "Oh, that's real great, Leo. I'll just get on that while we're  _running for our lives."_

"Maybe I can buy us some time," April said. She turned, taking quick aim with the bow, and loosed an arrow. It flew straight and true down the hallway toward the leading edge of the wave of Kraangdroids, but April's expression of victory turned to one of dismay as it ricocheted off the bot's metal head, bouncing off a ventilation duct and a light fixture before forcing her to duck again as it whizzed back over her head.

 _Okay, maybe that wasn't the brightest_ —

A strangled yelp next to her caught her attention. She turned, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of the arrow sticking out of Donatello's shell. "Donnie!" she cried. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

Donnie's expression was tense and pained, but he swallowed hard and gave her an encouraging grin. "It's okay. Shells are made of tough stuff. I barely even feel it."

"Really?" Mikey said, drifting across the hallway as they ran so that he could examine it. "Last time I got something stuck between my scutes, I was feeling it for days, and days, and days, and days, and—"

" _Just get it out!_ " Donnie snapped.

Shrugging, Mikey grabbed the arrow and yanked it out, eliciting a high-pitched shriek from Donnie that made April wince. As they pounded around the Hall of North American Mammals, Mikey whirled, launching the arrow like a javelin from the apex of his spin and impaling one of the Kraang square in the chest. It went down, tripping up several others, and the wall of laser fire broke as the others began to stumble.

"Yeah-ha!" Mikey crowed. "Go boomerang arrow!"

But his victory celebration was short-lived, for as they reached the junction at the end of the Hall of Small Mammals, a second wave of Kraang started pouring down from the IMAX corridor.

"Left!" Donnie shouted, grabbing April's hand and tugging her down the corridor. Her breath was coming shorter now, and she couldn't help glancing back in fear as the double wave of Kraang met in pursuit. They just kept coming….

The Roosevelt Memorial Hall lay up ahead, and Donnie's sharp exclamation drew her attention. She looked back just in time to see the shuriken he had tugged from his belt thunk into the wall over the doors ahead, severing a wire that was barely visible. Instantly, the heavy doors began to swing closed, and the three of them skidded into the dark hall just before they thudded closed behind them.

The doors buckled as Kraang collided with them, and April and Mikey threw themselves against them, Mikey wrapping his kusarigama chain around the handles tightly as the wood shuddered beneath them.

"Donnie!" April cried, realizing that he wasn't there with them. "What are you doing?" The door bowed beneath her shoulder, and she threw herself back against it.

"I have an idea!" his voice drifted back from the darkness. "I just need a couple minutes. Keep them busy for me!"

She stared wide-eyed at Mikey. "Is he serious?"

"It's Donnie," Mikey sighed. "He's  _always_  serious. Sometimes he tries to be cool and ends up looking really lame. But he's still serious when he does it."

"Okay then," April said. Another crash against the door sent her flying, and only Mikey's quick grab stopped her from crashing to the ground. He pushed her back up against the door, one hand holding her in place and the other hauling on the kusarigama chain as he jammed his shoulder against his own door. She smiled at him gratefully and wrapped her hands around the handle, clinging for dear life.

Whatever Donnie was doing, he'd better hurry up. The door wasn't going to hold out much longer.

 _"Got it_!"

With a resonant hum, lights flooded the hall, illuminating the high, arcing ceiling supported by massive columns, and the shining murals that adorned the walls. Donnie stood in the middle of the hall, his hands planted on his hips and a smile on his face so bright that April was almost surprised that the light wasn't coming from  _it_. "I've managed to score us some transportation."

Mikey looked past him, and his breath left him in a rush. "Donnie…."

Then he was gone, pouncing on Donnie and wrapping his arms around him so tightly that the only sound Donnie could make was a strangled gasp. "You are the  _best_  brother in the history of the _universe!_ "

"Yeah," Donnie said, working a hand free so that he could casually examine his nails. "I know."

Mikey dropped Donnie a second later, skipping past him toward their transportation and leaving a cloud of giggles in his wake. Without Mikey or his kusarigama, the door was starting to give, cracking around the locks, but April could hardly pay it any mind as she stared down the room at what Donnie had donne. Donnie approached her, still grinning, and held out his hand.

"My lady, your chariot awaits."

April stared at him, and slowly, a grin to match his spread across her own features. She laid her hand in his, and as his fingers curled around hers, the door behind her cracked and fell open.

But that didn't matter. They were already moving, already in place, and the Kraang didn't stand a chance against their current ride.

Donnie really  _was_  a genius.

* * *

The shadows were thick in the special exhibition hall, and though they served to hide the turtles quite effectively, they also turned the enormous figures that shared the hall with them into titans looming out of the gloom. The sign on the door stated that they were the finalists in a mascot competition, constructed by students at local universities. Some were cute, but many were just...bizarre.

As they passed by one towering monster, it resolved itself into some kind of bird wearing a gown and mortarboard. Brow furrowed, Leo glanced at the sign below it. "Education Emu? Are these things for real? I just-" His attention was caught suddenly by the next entry, a hulking rhinoceros in a familiar gold shirt and black wig. "Oooh! Rhino Ryan! I like this one!" Grabbing a pencil from the table by the door, he hastily filled in one of the ballot forms on the plinth in front of the Space Heroes rhino and dropped his vote into the box beneath.

"You're telling me there's other people as dorky over that show as you are?" Raph snorted, rolling his eyes. "There really is no hope for this world."

"Knock it off, Raph, I—" Leo stopped, facing what looked like a turtle with slavering fangs, razor claws, and glaring red eyes. " _Terror_ pin? I think I'm offended."

"I think it's awesome!" Raph shoved him aside. "Out of the way, I'm voting for this one."

Leo shook his head as Raph filled out a ballot, drifting through the shadows that masked the other exhibits. "I could have sworn the trail led in here."

"Maybe you're not as great a ninja as you think. Ever consider that?"

"I just… whoa."

Raph was at his side in a soundless instant, his sai in his hands. Wordlessly, Leo pointed at the shattered hulk of the mascot that lay in the darkness before them. The mascot had been stripped of whatever it had been wearing, and the brown body had definitely seen better days. Its arms were gone, and half the toothy grin on the massive brown head had been torn away.

"Wow," said Raph, digging through the debris for the mascot's sign. "Somebody really had it in for – oh, for crying out -  _Hipster Hippo?_ Are you kidding me? Jeez, if the kids who made this thing were Mikey, I'd smack them."

But Leo was still staring at the ruined mascot. The kids who'd made it had gone all out; when it had been in one piece, it would have towered over the others. "Had it in for…" he mused quietly. "Or just really liked what he was wearing?"

Raph looked at him, his eyes widening. "You don't think—"

A reverberating crash echoed throughout the halls, shaking the floor beneath them and sending Education Emu toppling over onto its side.

"I do think," Leo said, his eyes narrowing. "Come on!"

They ghosted down the darkened hallways, their feet making no sound as they ran toward the source of the commotion. His focus narrowed, Leo had no need of words now, a single gesture sending Raph around to the other side of the door. Cautiously, they peered through the opening.

The hall beyond was veiled in shadow, but lights from above and below illuminated the ghostly form of an enormous blue whale. In the minimal security lighting, it was possible to believe that the whale was actually swimming through a vast, dark ocean. Raph at his heels, Leo slipped through the doorway, and they ran around the rail that ringed the upper level of the hall. Pausing halfway around the balcony at a good vantage, they peered over the rail at the figure below.

He was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself as he stalked around in front of the reef display. Hipster Hippo's clothes were a perfect fit, from the cargo pants, to the loose flannel, to the oversized black glasses that sat on top of his trunk. Save for the mop of tousled brown hair on his head, shaggy orange fur covered the rest of what they could see, and there was a  _lot_  of it. MastoDan was massive. Bigger than Dogpound, or even Leatherhead. The mutant gestured as he paced, and Leo caught something about "tuition" and "interest rates" before he paused, his trunk rising to adjust the lensless glasses on his trunk as he peered at a coffee cup someone had abandoned in front of the polar bear display.

"Well that's just  _tasteless_ ," he snorted, his voice deeper now that there was a lot more chest to resonate in. "Some people have no idea how to behave in a museum."

Leo glanced at Raph, and his brother nodded. As one, they vaulted the rail, landing in front of the mutant with weapons drawn.

"All right, MastoDan," Leo said, pointing with his katana. "It's time you learned not to be so  _nosy_."

"Seriously?" Raph demanded.

Leo glanced over his shoulder at him. "What?"

"He's a prehistoric mutant from the  _ice age_ ," Raph said in disgust. "You could have gone with 'it's time to chill out!' or 'we're gonna put you back on ice!'" He threw up his hands. "And the best you can come up with is  _nosy?_ "

"He has a  _trunk_!"

"He—" Raph broke off, and both of them turned their attention back to MastoDan. The massive mutant hadn't moved yet. But he was…giggling. A high pitched, eerie sound that had little sanity left in it. "Aw, man," Raph muttered. "I hate it when they laugh. Or… giggle evily. Nothing good ever comes from that kind of sound."

MastoDan clasped his hands together, regarding them with undisguised glee. "Fabulous! More experiments arriving to the party. My contacts will be so pleased, maybe now they'll give me the payment they promised!" The trunk lifted, exposing the two small tusks jutting from his chin.

Leo let out a gasp just before Raph's solid bulk hit him from the side, driving him out of the way as MastoDan launched the tusks from his chin. They thunked into the floor where Leo had been standing, their razor-sharp chisel points sinking deep into the concrete.

"Mastodons can  _do_  that?" he yelped in disbelief.

"They can now," Raph snapped from where he lay on top of Leo. "Let's move!"

Launching himself back to his feet, Raph took off for the alcove housing one of the side displays, Leo following close behind as a hail of tusk darts thudded into the floor and displays behind him, shattering the glass in front of the walruses.

They skidded into the shelter of the stairs, and the floor began to shake with MastoDan's footsteps as he pursued them. "What now, Chief?" Raph demanded.

"I'm working on it!"

Abruptly, the footsteps stopped, and another giggle filled the air. Raph looked at Leo, who shrugged in response. But in another moment, the reason for MastoDan's amusement became clear.

"It is the one who was Kraang's informant in the place that is known as the Museum of Natural History."

"The one who was the one known as Kraang's informant in the Museum of Natural History has been genetically recombined with the DNA of the animal known as 'mastodon.' Now would be a good time for the testing of the stasis canon on the one who was formerly Kraang's informant in the Museum of Natural History."

"Aw, crud," Raph whispered.

Creeping to the edge of the stairs, Leo peered out from beneath them, and felt his stomach sink. Countless Kraang ringed the balcony, some still dressed as museum security and some in their bare robot forms, and more were arriving by the second. Three of them had some kind of giant weapon, and the whine of it powering up was audible even from where they hid.

"Reeeeally," said MastoDan, wandering toward the stairs. Leo shrank back as the shaggy orange feet, tipped with thick, elephantine toenails, appeared in front of him. "You sure you don't want to test it on the turtles hiding under here?"

"Double crud," Leo whimpered.

"The turtles!" Those two words drifted like a wave across the sea of Kraang. "Retrieve the turtles! Then we will commence with the testing of the stasis canon on the one formerly known as Kraang's informant in this place!"

"Not if I get them first!" MastoDan lunged, his enormous fist sweeping the space beneath the stairs, but Leo and Raph were already gone, racing around the other side to flank the mutant in his blind spot. But the Kraang, spotting them, began jumping from the upper level, and in moments, the fight had degenerated into a mêlée. Shell-to-shell, Leo and Raph fought, their weapons blurring as Kraang fell beneath them and more droids surged forward to take their place. The fight was further complicated by the periodic bursts of tusk darts from MastoDan's direction as the mutant shot them indiscriminately at Kraang and turtle alike.

"Hey, Leo?" Raph said, his breath coming in gasps now as three more droids engaged him. "I'm not so sure… we're getting out… of this one."

"Just… keep fighting," Leo said, his shell pressing hard against his brother's as more Kraang forced him back. "I'll think… of something."

But in the end, he didn't have to. Beneath them, the floor trembled. And again. And again. Silence descended across the sea of Kraang, and even MastoDan stilled, all of them listening as the tremors increased in strength and frequency. On the ledge next to Leo, the coffee cup that had so displeased MastoDan was still upright, and as he watched, ripples appeared on the surface of the coffee within, growing larger with each successive tremor.

There was a commotion near the door to the hall. Kraang began pouring through it in what Leo would have sworn was undisguised panic, spilling over each other and toppling down the stairs. A terrible sound, like the roar of something ancient and primal, split the air, bowling over the Kraang nearest the door.

And a Tyrannosaurus rex burst into the room, a Kraangdroid hanging from its massive jaws. Three figure's sat on the dinosaur's back: Mikey, crowing with unparalleled delight, his arms around April, who sat in front of him with a death grip on Donnie's belt and an expression on her face that wavered between glee and terror, and Donnie, right behind the dinosaur's head, holding a control console in his hands.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Donnie cried, and with a wrench of the controls, the T. rex ploughed into the Kraang, leaving a trail of twisted metal carnage in its wake.

* * *

Raph stared, his sai hanging at his sides as the robotic dinosaur flattened the Kraang in its path. "Okay," he said slowly. "That has got to be the coolest thing I have ever seen." He glanced over his shoulder at Leo. "And if you tell Donnie I said that, I will  _pound_  you."

"Move!" Leo cried, tackling Raph out of the way as another barrage of tusk darts flew toward them. Rolling to their feet, they turned to face MastoDan, who had managed to recover from the distraction. Leo grimaced; he should have anticipated that. Dan worked at the museum. While he certainly wouldn't have been used to seeing it rampaging around the Hall of Ocean Life, he was at least familiar enough with the dinosaur that it wouldn't have been  _that_ much of a shock.

 _Stupid, Leo. You're supposed to think of these things. Preferably_ before _the creepy mutant hipster impales you or your brothers._

"Palaeo is gonna be sooo mad," MastoDan chided, waving a finger. "Can't let this happen. They'll withdraw their funding for their TAs."

"I'm pretty sure the whole grad student ship has sailed, man," Raph growled. A shuriken flew from his hands, but a swipe of MastoDan's tusks deflected it. "I don't think they're going to be too happy about a giant hideous mutant working for their department."

"They take  _arts_  majors," said mutant retorted, grabbing at Raph with a massive furred hand. "If they'll take  _them,_  they'll take  _anyone._ Free labour is free—oof!"

The T. rex's sweeping tail caught MastoDan in the solarplexus, and the massive mutant doubled over as the animatronic dinosaur stormed past.

"Aw  _yeah!_ " Mikey crowed from atop the dinosaur's back. "That's what you get, foo!  _Nobody_  messes with Chompy McBitington!"

"Mikey, for the last time, we are  _not_  calling it that," Donnie snapped, his expression strained as he jabbed at the controls, sending the dinosaur careening after another clump of Kraang that were trying to take refuge near a display of polar bears. Gears whirred and ground as Donnie attempted to get the tyrannosaur's head beneath the overhanging balcony.

Before Mikey had a chance to respond, the room filled with a shrieking whine that drilled straight through Leo's skull. Gritting his teeth against the pain as Raph staggered next to him, Leo glanced desperately around until he identified the source. The massive canon the Kraang on the balcony was glowing ominously pink around the barrel.

"Donnie!" Leo screamed. "The stasis canon!"

His brother glanced up, eyes going wide just as a blinding beam erupted from the canon's mouth. A resounding crash followed, and as the sparks cleared from Leo's vision, he found himself staring in horror at the Tyrannosaurus, now on its side and encased in a block of ice.

On the heels of Leo's ragged cry, Raph shoved past Leo, bolting toward the dinosaur. "Donnie?  _Mikey?"_

A shrill voice answered from above. "Nooooo! Not Chompy!"

Relief flooded through Leo, leaving him tingling as he craned his neck, peering skyward. The massive blue whale overhead rocked gently from side to side as Mikey clung to a cable, peering downward in dismay at the remains of his dinosaur. Donnie sat slightly father down the whale, an arm firmly around April's waist, looking like he'd just lost a child. Mikey raised a fist, shaking skyward. "They won't get away with this, Chompy!  _You shall be avenged!_ "

"Look out!" Raph bellowed.

Mikey flattened himself against the whale, Donnie pulling April down only a fraction of a second later, as the searing violet beam sliced above them once again. When the glow cleared, the wire connecting the whale's tail to the ceiling had vanished beneath a coating of ice as the whale swayed again.

"Everyone okay?" Leo called, and was rewarded by a shaky green thumbs-up poking out over the side of the whale.

_"Philistines!"_

Leo whirled. In all the commotion, he'd forgotten MastoDan.  _That's twice. STUPID._

Bellowing in rage, the enormous mutant thundered up the stairs to the gallery, Kraang laser blasts sinking into the matted fur like an annoying rain and leaving singe marks on the oversized flannel shirt. "How dare you! Giving all your funding to  _engineers_. Like the world needs more of  _them_? You just don't understand  _science!"_  MastoDan barreled into the mass of Kraang, flinging metal bodies left and right. " _Don't you understand I need that money for foosball?"_

"Dude," Mikey breathed, peering over the edge of the whale. "What is  _wrong_  with that guy?"

"At first guess," Donnie answered, his head popping into view next to Mikey's. "I'd say the frozen DNA that recombined with his was too degraded, leading to intense cognitive instabilities post-mutation."

Mikey blinked. "Who with the what now?"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Stale mastodon bits in the mutagen filled his jerk brain with cottage cheese."

"See," Mikey nudged his brother. "Isn't it easier when you speak English?"

"I  _was_  speaking English!"

"Enough with the nerd talk," Raph cut in, bolting for the stairs. "We gotta stop him!"

Raph was right. MastoDan was headed straight for the stasis canon. The Kraang had turned its barrel toward him, but the machine was taking too long to power up, and the screeching chorus of twisting metal filled the air as MastoDan tore the robots limb from limb.

Leo took off after Raph as his brother gained the stairs, until a sickening twang cut over the din of the Kraang and the rampaging mutant, freezing them in their tracks. Leo glanced up and let out a terrified yelp and dove to the side, rolling past the stairs and coming up into a crouch. The enormous, life-sized blue whale, now lacking its tail tether, plunged toward him as though diving through a tempestuous sea. He could hear the screams of the others as the cable at the whale's head snapped taut, and the whale's dive became a swing, sending Raph over the railing on the opposite side as the head grazed the staircase and the entire whale crashed to a stop.

Then all he could hear was April's scream. Her bright hair shone in the dim lights of the hall as she was thrown from the whale's back, unable to keep her grip on it. Donnie's and Mikey's voices joined hers, and, too late, Leo saw Mikey's hand diving for his kusarigama.

But Leo, from the other side of the hall, had a viewpoint the other two lacked. He watched the streak of red and green dart from beneath the whale's tail, leaping to intercept the falling girl in midair, and relief flooded through him as April's cry turned into a squeak of surprise.

" _Got her!_ " came Raph's triumphant call.

But the distraction had given MastoDan the time he needed. With a deafening trumpet of triumph, he smashed the final Kraang over the edge of the gallery and hoisted the stasis canon over his head. "Withdraw my funding, will they? I'll show them! I'll show them a tuition freeze the like of which the world has never seen!"

Leaping to a wall sconce, MastoDan grabbed the bar on the track lighting overhead and used it to fling himself up through the skylight. As shattered glass rained down on the ocean hall, that eerie, high-pitched giggle drifted down after him. As if in added emphasis, a large section of the ceiling came down after him, thunking to the floor in a cloud of plaster dust.

"Oooo-kay," Raph said slowly. Leo could just see him through a gap in the debris beneath the whale's tail, April still in his arms as he stared upward. "What the heck was that about?"

"Uh, guys," Donnie's voice drifted from the top of the whale. "I might be mistaken – though I almost never am – but given the size of the stasis canon and the energy potential in the power pack—"

Mikey's grunt of frustration cut him off. "Spit it out, brah."

"—I think," Donnie continued, his voice sharp with irritation. "That MastoDan might be trying to overload the canon."

Leo's brow furrowed. In Space Heroes, that was usually a good thing. Something Captain Ryan or Grundsch did to their phase pistols to take out the enemy. But the dread in Donnie's voice spoke otherwise. "What does that mean, Donnie?"

"It means he might be trying to bring on another Ice Age."

"Awesome!" Mikey shouted. "Skiing, snowboarding - this'll be wicked!"

"No," Donnie retorted, "that's  _bad,_ Mikey. No more summer. No more crops. No more pizza."

"No pizza?" Mikey pressed his hands to his mouth in horror. "Dude, that guy's a  _monster_! Let's take him down!"

 _I couldn't agree more, little brother._  Sheathing his katana, Leo peered around the debris field, seeking a way out. "Donnie, where's he going?"

"My best guess? He's aiming for maximum dispersal. Headed for the roof."

"Okay, let's not waste any more time." Leo peered upward at the expectant faces of his brothers, then glanced at the twisting labyrinth of debris that cut him off from the others. "Everyone find your own way out. We meet on the roof and put this creep  _on ice_."

"There you go," Raph said, setting April on her feet. "That's  _much_  better than 'nosy.'"

"Shut up, Raph." Leo turned on his heel and vanished through the nearest exit, trusting his brothers to meet him up above where they could put a stop to the marauding mastodon, before he froze the city like a snowglobe.

* * *

"Seriously, what exactly do you have against stairs?"

"Stairs are too slow. This gets the job done much faster."

It wasn't that April didn't trust Raph. When his massive hand had locked around her wrist and he'd dragged her away from the remains of the whale, she'd had zero reservations about following him. When he'd taken care of locked doors with his usual method of steamrolling straight through them, she hadn't protested. When he'd leaped up on a bench and smashed an outside window, she'd raised an eyebrow, but let him pull her up next to him. But when he'd tugged her up on to his shell and thrown himself out of said window, she had started to rethink the wisdom of letting Raph make the plan.

In a stomach-churning mirror of the night they'd first met, April found herself clinging to Raph's shell for dear life as her feet dangled far too many stories above the ground. But instead of going down, away from the Kraang compound where she'd been held prisoner, they were heading steadily upward, toward the maniac who wanted to bring on a winter without end.

_And never get the chance to wear that cute bathing suit I got in last year's blowout sale with Irma? I don't think so._

Her fingers clenching on the edge of Raph's shell so hard it hurt, she buried her head against him and tried not to think about how small the shuko spikes currently keeping them from falling were. Or how old the wall was. Or how the only thing keeping them in the air were Raph's admittedly not inconsiderable biceps. To think, she'd once thought all those pushups were just for showing off. "Just tell me when it's over, okay?"

"Wimp," came the terse rejoinder, but there was fondness in it rather than an edge. Much like being hit with a pillow instead of a bokken.

April fell silent as they reached the red tiled roof and Raph hauled them both over the edge. Once he'd come to a rest on the slope of the roof, April released her death grip on his shell and slid off, though she breathed a silent sigh of relief for the hand he placed on the small of her back to keep her from sliding the rest of the way off the roof.

Further away, they could hear the eerie giggling that told them they were close. Frowning, Raph began to inch his way forward, only half his attention on April now as he reached back, taking her hand and hauling her up next to him until they reached the peak of the roof.

As she peered over the peak, April's breath caught. MastoDan stood on the roof above the Central Park entrance, silhouetted against the lights of the sleeping city. He'd managed to snag some kind of satellite dish, probably from the planetarium, and was busy wiring it to the Kraang canon as he muttered about grant applications and the soaring price of coffee on a student budget.

"This guy's got more screws loose than Donnie," Raph muttered.

One large ear twitched, and MastoDan's massive head swung around to face them. "I heeeeeeard that!" he called in a lilting singsong.

An instant later, Raph planted his hand on April's head, and she found her face mashed into the roof tiles as a barrage of tusk darts whizzed past overhead. She heard Raph's hiss as a few of them scraped the back of his hand, and the pressure on her head vanished. Holding her breath, she watched Raph moving down the roof, a darker shadow against the night, and the pattering rain of darts followed him as he drew MastoDan's attention away from April. Letting out her breath slowly, she eased back up enough so that she could see again.

A grin spread slowly across her face as she spotted the shifting shadows behind the mutant as Donnie and Mikey slipped from the shelter of the planetarium roof. The soft susurration of Mikey's kusarigama chain slithered out of the darkness, but MastoDan's head whipped toward it at the last moment. The chain looped around a massive tusk, and with a jerk of his head, MastoDan sent Mikey flying. Mikey's yelp of alarm soared across the rooftops toward the roof of the museum shop, where a muffled "oof" told her that Mikey'd just found Leo.

MastoDan whirled again, swatting aside a rain of Donnie's shuriken with one massively callused palm and sending a rain of tusk darts in response. April winced, biting her lip. He was just too  _big_. Mastodons had evolved defenses against some of the nastiest predators the world had ever known. They probably would have survived those too if it hadn't been for—

April gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth too late. The darts were already flying toward her… but Raph was there first, taking the darts with his shell. He collapsed next to her with a grunt, skewering her with his glare.

"Sorry," she whispered, as she heard Leo and Mikey shouting to draw MastoDan's attention. "But remember what Splinter said?"

Raph furrowed his brow. "Splinter says a lot of stuff, April."

"No, the thing. About those who fail to learn from history." She gestured toward MastoDan. "What happened to all the mastodons? Can you distract him enough to get a clear shot at the canon?"

Raph turned to follow her arm, and she watched as a slow smile spread across his face. She  _knew_  he'd been listening when Donnie was helping her with her homework. "Hey,  _four eyes!_ " he bellowed. "Nice glasses. They having a dork sale or what?"

There was a moment of utter, stunned silence. "… _what_ _?"_  MastoDan shrieked.

"Oh," April heard Donnie's soft exclamation. "Oh, I get it!" Then, louder, Donnie added, "Hey Dan, I read your paper on osteopathology! I liked it… when I first read it in  _Kripps & Evans 2004!"_

"Shut up!" MastoDan whirled. "My paper is  _not_  derivative!"

"Hey, MastoDan!" Mikey chimed in. "Why the looooong face?"

With a shriek, MastoDan grabbed at the stasis canon, aiming it blindly toward the dark where Mikey hid. "Stop it! That's a terrible pun!"

Raph snickered. "Nice shirt! Hipster Hippo wore it better, though!"

" _I am not a hipster! I just have a very refined fashion sense!"_

"Oh yeah? It's gotta be better than your scientific process because your methodology was patchy and unreproducible!"

" _There is nothing wrong with my methods!"_

"You got a method of taking care of that BO?" Mikey sang. "Man, that is some serious elephant  _stank_ , dude!"

A trumpet of utmost rage shattered the night, evoking an answering chorus of honking from the street below.  _"I am not an elephant THAT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TAXON!"_

And as he brandished the stasis canon for emphasis, Leo's shuriken whizzed out of the darkness and embedded themselves in the power supply with a massive shower of sparks. MastoDan looked at the screaming, sputtering weapon in his hands, and his eyes went wide behind his prescription-less frames.

"But… my thesis," he whimpered.

Then, night became day as the stasis canon exploded.

April had only a moment to comprehend the wall of white moving toward her before the world turned upside down. Something struck her, driving the breath from her, and then she was falling, turning, up was down and down was up, and a roaring screamed in her ears until it drowned out the cries torn from her own throat.

Then, there was only darkness. And cold. Bitter, biting cold that stabbed into her exposed skin, and she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. It leached every ounce of warmth from her and left her crying out silently as the ice stole her breath and left her gasping as she fought against it.

And then…

"April! April , just breathe, okay? You're freaking me out, here."

Oh god. She wasn't alone. She wasn't… "…Raph?" She struggled, but she still couldn't move, and the cold was so painful it scattered her thoughts. "Where… w-w-what h-happened?"

"I dunno," he said. He was so close; his breath was hot against her frozen cheek – too hot – but she was so glad for it that she almost welcomed the scent of stale pizza. "Best I can tell, that canon thing made a lot of snow when it blew. Sorry - I couldn't get us out of the way of the avalanche."

April's breath caught on a frantic gasp. That explained it. The dark and the cold. The reason she couldn't move.

"We're buried alive?" Her breath climbed to a panicked pitch and broke, and though she knew it was futile, she thrashed against the crushing ice. She couldn't,  _couldn't_  be trapped here, but she couldn't  _think_ , and the ice bit into her like a thousand tiny needles, and she needed to get  _out_ …

"April, April, hey. Hey." Raph's voice, steady, solid as iron in the dark. "April, calm down. I got you."

Those words, spoken with an uncharacteristic softness, wrapped around her and stilled the frantic beating of her heart. At those words, the last fragmented pieces of confused sensation fell into place. The snow surrounded her, pressing against her, but that solid wall in front of her, the bands of warmth that sat around her waist… It was Raph. Raph had gotten to her first, pulling her against him just before the snow wave crashed over them, shielding her from the worst of it with his shell.

"G-great," she whispered, fighting against the violent chattering of her teeth. "B-b-but who's g-got y-you?"

"Geez, April, haven't you learned  _anything_  yet?" There was a note in his voice that she didn't often hear, and was hard-pressed to identify. But whatever it was, it threaded through her and warmed her against the cold. "Listen."

She did, her cheek resting against the hard, rough surface she now knew to be his shoulder. And slowly, above the steady, thumping beat of Raph's heart, she heard it.

Voices.

He shifted against her, and his boundless strength won out where her own couldn't, compressing the snow around them enough that they had a little room to move, to gulp in air that wasn't quite so stale. It was enough that April could lift her head, just a little, as cold slush trickled through her bangs and into her eyes.

"Can you cover your ears?" he asked.

She tried, but even if the snow hadn't been pinning her hands to her thighs, Raph's arms did a rather remarkable job of locking hers to her sides. He shifted again, easing his grip on her as much as the packed snow allowed, but she remained trapped in his hold.

"Hrm," he grunted, and sighed. "Sorry about this, then." She heard him draw a breath, and felt the swelling in his chest as it forced the air from hers in the confines of their prison.

" ** _NO, THAT'S OKAY, TAKE YOUR TIME. IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE BURIED ALIVE DOWN HERE OR ANYTHING!_** "

The words battered her with an almost physical weight, and she buried her head against his shoulder in a futile attempt to escape them. Her ears rang in the silence that rushed in in their wake, but as the ringing subsided, there was a change in the tone of the voices from above, resolution threading through them as they drew closer. A cry of triumph rang out, and then there was a thumping and a scraping above their heads as the other three began to dig through the snow toward them.

"See?" Raph said, and there was relief beneath the smugness.

April smiled against his shoulder. "Yeah, and all it t-took was your st-stanky pizza b-b-breath. Geez, R-r-raph, ever hear of a t-t-toothbrush?"

"Ingrate," he grumbled, as his arms tightened around her.

The noises overhead grew suddenly louder, and panic flooded through her as a flurry of snow came down on her head. For one horrible, panicked moment, she was certain that their little bubble of snow was collapsing in on them. An instant later, fresh, clean air filled her lungs, and she felt a jerk as large, three-fingered hands latched on to Raph's shell and began to pull.

 _No no no don't leave me behind please don't..._  Her mind babbled in sudden terror as those hands began to drag Raph away from her. But her panic was needless. Raph was strength personified, and she finally understood what he'd meant when he'd asked her if she'd learned anything.

 _Family didn't get left behind_.

Despite the tugging on his shell, Raph's arms were immovable, and as his brothers dragged him free of the snow, he didn't loosen his hold on April until she'd been dragged free right along with him.

A confused flurry of exclamations followed, the brothers descending and Raph attempting to ward off their concern with brusque efficiency, and as April was passed from one pair of arms to another, she found herself staring at a small iceberg planted peak-first into the snow in front of her. Then, she blinked, and the iceberg resolved itself into MastoDan, encased firmly in a thick prison of ice.

Green filled her vision, forcing her to blink up at Donnie as peered with clinical concern into her eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"F-f-fine." April winced as her teeth continued to chatter. "Just a little c-c-cold."

Donnie smiled and reached for his satchel. "I think I can help with that."

She stared in fond incredulity as Donnie pulled a square of foil from the bag, unfolding it into a metallic emergency blanket, which he wrapped around her shoulders. In seconds, it had taken the edge off the chill, and April shook her head with a quiet laugh. "Thank g-goodness for the magical nanny bag."

"Would you guys stop calling it that?" Donnie's voice went sharp with irritation. "I'm just a very efficient packer!"

"I don't suppose you've got t-two of those in the magic nanny bag?" Raph demanded, his arms folded and his brows drawn in a scowl. He grunted, but though he didn't show any further signs of distress as Leo yanked the tusk darts out of his carapace, he was shaking a little. April cast him a sympathetic look; she knew how much it must be grating on him to show any sign that the cold was getting to him.

"Oh," Donnie said, reaching into the bag. "Sure I do." Moments later, Donnie's scowl was back as his brothers and April burst into gales of hysterical laughter. " _Stop_  that!"

But April couldn't. Her sides ached and her cheeks hurt, but she couldn't stop laughing as she leaned against Mikey for support. The coil of emotion that had been winding tighter and tighter inside of her all day had finally snapped, and now all she could do was fight for breath as the tears poured down her face.

"So," Leo said, managing to bring himself back under control. "What do we do with  _him?"_

The laughter of the others gradually subsided as they turned their attention to the mutant iceberg in front of them. Mikey broke the thoughtful silence first as he flopped back into the snow, his arms and legs moving as he made himself a snow turtle. "Whatever, dudes. Chompy is avenged. My work here is done."

"Don't suppose we can smash him?" Raph muttered under his breath, and grunted as April's elbow drove into the bridge beneath his arm. "What? It was just a suggestion."

"Oh," Donnie said, stepping forward and leaning against the iceberg with the grin of a well-fed cat. "I think I know what to do."

* * *

 " [History Bites](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/96266092671/chapter-history-bites-act-2-of-falling) " by Ruslanan

"[Under the Snow](http://ruslanan.tumblr.com/post/96540704831/chapter-history-bites-act-3-of-falling)" by Ruslanan

"[Yanked from a terrible fate](http://heartofanalterego.deviantart.com/art/Yanked-from-a-Terrible-Fate-Scrap-399703603)" by Heartofanalterego


	31. History Bites: Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our story wraps up... almost.

**History Bites: Epilogue**

* * *

 

It took a great deal of hauling, lifting, shoving, and a thorough education in Japanese curse words before they managed to haul MastoDan out of the snow and back into the deserted museum. The police had shown up not long afterward, and had been so stymied by the snow spilling out across Central Park West that they'd been about to write the alarms off to a freak meteorological accident when Steve, still dazed from Dan's Kraang taser, stumbled into their midst. The cops pounced on him like a swarm of ants, leaving the rest of the museum clear for four turtles, their human colleague, and a large frozen mastodon to break in the back way.

April forgot sometimes just how  _strong_  the guys were. But in next to no time at all, they'd pilfered a shipping crate from the loading dock, stuffed the iceberg inside it, and April found herself sitting on a desk outside of the museum's massive specimen freezer watching Donnie, Leo, and Mikey argue over the best way to get the shipping crate - now marked "Biohazard! Do not thaw!" - through the freezer door.

Despite the crinkling foil blanket around her, April shivered, unable to shake the last of the bone-deep chill. She glanced over at Raph, stuffed into his own blanket next to her, and she couldn't hold back her smile. They hadn't thought she was listening when Donnie finally gave up the second blanket to Raph, but the weird acoustics of the freezer bay had made their voices carry.

* * *

 _As Leo and Mikey had a discussion about what to write on the shipping crate that seemed to involve an inordinate amount of shoving, Donnie turned his attention to Raph, who'd been shivering miserably ever since they'd finished lugging MastoDon down to the freezers._ " _What?" Raph had snapped, with that edged defensiveness he got when he was really uncomfortable and trying not to show it. "Oh, I get some attention now? Would have thought you'd be too worried about your_ girl _friend."_

 _"_ _She's not my girlfriend," Donnie said, the response clipped and automatic. But his tone softened as he stopped his diagnostic check and actually_ looked _at his brother. "Besides, I wasn't worried."_

_Raph had blinked at that. "You weren't?"_

_"_ _Well, no," he said, shaking out the blanket and wrapping the blanket around Raph. "_ You  _were with her. I knew she'd be just fine."_

_Raph stared at Donnie for another moment before a grin broke across his face, and he reached out of the blanket long enough to punch Donnie lightly in the shoulder. "And don't you ever forget that."_

* * *

Despite the warmth of the memory, April shivered again, and was answered by a long-suffering sigh from the turtle next to her. "That's it," Raph said, filling the air with a resounding crinkle as he spread his arms. "If you get sick because of this, I'm never gonna hear the end of it. Get over here."

Meekly, April scooted closer and let him envelop her in his blanket. Between the shield of her foil wrap and the combined warmth of Raph and his own emergency blanket, her shivering finally subsided.

"Better," Raph said. "Seriously, how the heck do humans manage to survive without a shell?"

"I guess I'm just lucky that yours is thick enough for the two of us." Shifting beneath the blanket, April flicked the rim of his carapace.

Raph snorted, poking a finger into her ribs and making her double over with a sharp squeak. "Brat."

"Sourpuss."

"Hothead."

"Oh,  _you're_  one to talk!" April craned her neck to stare at him. "Come on.  _I'm_  the hothead?"

"Hey," he said, "I'm not the one who ploughed straight into a nest of Kraang on my own." He considered that a moment. "This time, anyway."

April winced. "Okay, point."

"Still," Raph said, "you did good, kid." He glanced down and grinned at her. "Thanks for the remedial history lesson, by the way. You may not be a kunoichi, but you're not bad to have around in a fight."

"Careful, Raph," April said. "That was almost nice."

He didn't say anything in response; instead, his arms tightened, driving another breathless squeak from her. But April was smiling as her head came to rest against his shoulder. Raph may be crude, gruff, and possessed of all the subtlety of an angry bull driving a speeding freight train, but there was a big heart beating beneath that thick shell. Sometimes it just took a hundred pounds of snow and ice to remind April that she had a place in that heart alongside the rest of his family.

The resonant clang of the freezer lock echoed throughout the room with solid finality, and Raph let her go as the others descended on them. With the Kraang gone, security absent until the morning shift arrived, and the authorities still trying to figure out the sudden summer blizzard outside, it took very little effort for four trained ninjas and one ninja trainee to slip into the sewers and emerge, blinking, into the winter wonderland that was Central Park a few minutes later.

The snow spilled in a widening arc from the museum, spreading across the street and bringing traffic to a standstill, coating the hillside of the park in pristine, gleaming white before it ended at the frozen expanse of the turtle pond.

"Whoa," April breathed.

"This…" Mikey breathed, moving to stand on her left as he stared out over the frozen pond. "This… is…  _Awesome!"_ Dancing from foot to foot, he reached out and seized April's hand. "'C'mon, let's go skating!"

The resultant dash down the hillside nearly yanked her arm from its socket, the blanket falling forgotten behind her. But she didn't need it any more. As she sprinted down the hill, the spray of snow around them glittering like stars in the moonlight, she might have fallen more than once – were it not for the three sets of hands working to catch her and keep her on her feet. And every time one of them caught her and set her right, a new thread of warmth coiled through her, until she no longer felt the cold.


	32. History Bites: Postscript

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our story finally concludes, as history repeats itself.

**History Bites: Postscript**

* * *

Though the technicians noticed the new crate in the freezer, a quick check of the accession number in the database showed the contents to be "Mastodon mummy, frozen, possibly contaminated. Do not thaw. Seriously, dudes." So they left it be, content to let the cleanup be someone else's problem.

And so it remained, the mastodon locked in its prison of ice, forgotten in the dark.

Until…

_A crack._

_Light. Light in the endless dark and cold. And noise. Whirring, and metallic. Glowing eyes in the dark._

_"Kraang is correct. The stasis cannon is successful in the preserving of live test subjects for further tests."_

_"Kraang is correct that Kraang is correct. Kraang must now do that which is known as 'paying up.'"_

_"Kraang can do that which is known as 'bite me.'"_

_And as the robots continued to argue, a soft, high-pitched giggle drifted through the ice._

_He would finish his thesis someday, and carve the citations into those turtles' shells. Because doing it on a computer was just_ so _mainstream…._


	33. Secret Training (A prequel)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a belated birthday story for ineasako22, who wanted something adorable. I also owe a huge thanks to theherocomplex, for throwing prompts at me when I got stuck.

**Secret Training**

* * *

 

"I don't think we should be down here, Leo."

Leonardo glanced over his shoulder at his little brother, who had hunched up against the wall so hard that his head was halfway into his shell. With a quiet sigh, Leo slipped his bokken through his belt and stepped over the trickle of stormwater that ran between them. Part of him knew Mikey was right. Sensei always told them when they asked that they were too little to go into the tunnels on their own. But that's why he hadn't  _asked_  this time.

"Mikey." Leo rested his hand against his brother's shoulder. "What does Sensei always say about getting better?"

Mikey stared at him for a moment before heaving a deep, exasperated sigh. "That we're not gonna do it without training."

"Right," Leo said, with a satisfied nod. "And Sensei would want us to get better, right?"

"I guess," Mikey said slowly, glancing over his shoulder. "But won't Donnie and Raph wanna get better too?"

Leo fought back the words he really wanted to say and patted Mikey's head. "They'll be fine, Mikey. This is  _our_  special bro time. Do you really want them here right now?"

Mikey perked up at that. "Well… no…"

"Great! That settles it!" Leo drew his bokken, gesturing with it like the warriors in Splinter's books. "Onward, faithful Mikey! We shall train to be great heroes!"

"Can I train to be a monkey?"

Leo turned to glare over his shoulder. "No. Monkeys aren't heroes."

"The Monkey King in that one story is," Mikey pointed out, rocking back on his heels.

Leo opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. Frowning, he stamped his foot impatiently. "You're not a monkey. You're a  _ninja_. Let's go."

"Can I be a ninja monkey?"

" _Mikey!"_

"Did you say 'Mikey' or 'monkey'?"

" _Will you just go!"_

* * *

Some time later, the little trickle of water picked up speed, growing wider as other trickles joined it, and it wasn't long before Leo found what he was looking for. He stopped, planting his hands on his hips, letting out a small "oof" as Mikey bumped into his shell. Grabbing on to Leo's shell, Mikey peered around him at the complex tangle of pipes and walkways that criss-crossed the junction before them.

"Oooh," Mikey said softly.

"The perfect training place," Leo said.

Mikey squeezed between Leo and the tunnel wall. "Leo, are you sure-"

"Yes," Leo snapped impatiently. "Now come on. Time for training!"

Pushing past his brother, Leo eyed the walkway across from them. He took one step back to give himself room for a running start, kicked off, and leaped.

The moment in the air when you stopped going up but hadn't quite started to come down was always the most fun, but also the scariest. Leo always held his breath at that part, as his stomach flipped over and his head started to spin. But before he had a chance to get  _too_  scared, his feet were on the grate of the walkway, echoing throughout the junction with a clang.

"Ha!" he said, turning to Mikey. "Beat-"

But Mikey was already beside him, beaming. "My turn!" Whooping with glee, Mikey flung himself to the walkway below. "Come on, Leo!"

Leo inched slowly toward the edge of the walk he was on, peering down at Mikey. The other walkway was an awfully long way down…

_Training Leo. Think of your training._

Clenching his teeth, Leo leaped, falling through the air toward his brother.

The raced through the sewers, leaping and dodging as they chased each other through the maze of tunnels. Every so often, they came together long enough to exchange a kick or a punch, but most of it was chasing. Endless chasing, across culverts, and pipes, and walkways, making their way around to the junction again and again.

Leo always forgot how hard it was, but even when his legs began shaking, he refused to give up. Training was important. Training was the only way to get-

He missed it. Between one breath and another, his toe grazed against the pipe he was aiming for, and with a soft cry, he plunged into the dark.

His breath coming sharp and fast, he scrabbled for a grip on something,  _anything,_  but though his fingertips brushed against a pipe or two, it was never enough to let him get a good grip. And so he fell, helpless to do anything but watch as the green blur above him leaped gracefully from pipe to pipe like the monkey he'd envied, drawing ever closer to Leo as he fell.

Mikey's hand locked around Leo's wrist and he stopped with a jerk, swinging back and forth before Mikey let go, and Leo dropped the remaining few feet into the mud puddle below him. He lay, groaning, as Mikey swung upside-down from the pipe overhead.

Mikey folded his arms across his plastron. "Y'know what I think, Leo?"

Leo moaned and wiped the mud from his face. "What, Mikey?"

" _I_  think you didn't want Raph and Donnie here because you're already embarrassed that I'm better at Two Lines than you, and you didn't want  _them_  to be better, too."

Leo closed his eyes and draped his arm across his face. If there was one thing he hated, more than anything else, it was when Mikey was right about stuff like this. It drove him  _nuts_  that he needed to get training from his little brother on anything, let alone ninja stuff.

But then, he wouldn't have had anyone else with him, either. No matter what happened, he knew that Mikey wouldn't let him fall.

A squelch in the mud next to him told him that Mikey had gotten bored with swinging, and he grunted as Mikey flopped across his plastron. "Hey Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"I make a pretty good monkey, huh?"

Leo smiled, and lowered his arm to rub Mikey's head. "You make the best monkey. Just…" He bit his lip. "Don't tell Raph?"

"Pfff." Mikey poked Leo under his arm. "'Course not. Then he'd want training too. And this is  _our_  bro time." He rolled over, resting his chin on Leo's plastron. "Right?"

Leo's smile widened, and he dragged Mikey up so that he could hug him properly. "Right. Secret training is just for us." But as he squeezed Mikey tight, he couldn't help but notice the  _squish_ , and he looked down with a wince. "But we should probably go wash up before Sensei finds us. This mud is pretty bad."

"I'm a mudpuppy!" Mikey said, leaping to his feet. "I shall never be clean!" A gleam shone in his eyes as he shifted away from Leo. "Not unless you catch me!"

And with that, he was gone, jumping into the pipes overhead.

Leo stared for a moment with his mouth open before he followed, but he couldn't be mad. He should have expected that. When it came to Two Lines, Mikey was a training master. Leo could only follow, and hope that Mikey didn't push him  _too_  hard.

Last time, he'd been bruised for a week.


	34. Half-sick of Shadows (Act One, part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a dark night, Mikey and Leo learn there are more things in the shadows than they knew, while Raph and Donnie help April deal with some shadows of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been writing Falling for exactly three years, and while sudden illness keeping me bedridden means there's less of this at the moment than I hoped, I wanted to get something up today, both because it's the third anniversary of this story, and because it's Thanksgiving. I know it's a bit silly to get so sentimental about a piece of fiction, but this story has connected me to some truly amazing people I never would have known without it, and I am infinitely thankful for them every day. My life is a better place with them in it.
> 
> And speaking of, this story would not exist without Mizuinu. It's a highly-modified version of a roleplay between her Mikey and my Leo. I've rewritten it a lot to bring it into Falling canon, but the seeds of it were planted with her, and her Mikey's thoughts and dialogue still exist within the story.
> 
> Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who's still reading along. It's been a wild ride, but I am truly grateful for each and every one of you.
> 
> This story takes place very early in Season One, post-From the Sewer but pre-History Bites, with some fudging of timelines to make sure they have the Tphones.

The voices drifted to him through a fog of fear and sleep as he clawed his way out of the nightmare. He could hear them, but he lay frozen, powerless to respond as the angry words cut through the haze in his mind.

_“Are you kidding me? Why is he still asleep?”_

_“Because I don’t think he got more than five minutes of sleep_ last _night.”_

_“I told you guys it was a bad idea to let him eat all that candy at once. Maybe next time you should, I don’t know, listen to the girl who has sixteen years experience topside?”_

_“_ I _listened to you, April. I tried to stop him at half the bag, but by then, he’d already consumed enough sugar to get him so keyed up I had to use my bo to pry him off a ceiling pipe. Frankly, I’m amazed he fell asleep at all.”_

 _“Forget it._ I’ll _get him up.”_

_“Raph, no! Just… you guys go on ahead with April. We’ll catch up as soon as he’s awake.”_

_“Aw, come on. Why do you have to sit out because he’s an idiot?”_

_“Because_ someone _has to keep an eye on him in case he gets sick again. Or do you want to explain to Splinter why he’s barfing in technicolor?”_

_“No, no, I’m good. I still say we should just leave him…”_

The voices were fading, moving away, and his heart slammed against his ribs. They were leaving him alone! Leaving him behind! Memories of the dream, vague and fleeting as ghosts, reached spindly fingers into his mind and attempted to drag him back down into the nightmare. Oozing brains latching onto his head, attempting to replace his mind with their own… Struggling against sticky strands of web as a giant spider laughed and hurled insults… Bees. Sooo many bees…

With a final, desperate lurch, Mikey tore himself out of the dream and opened his eyes, only to discover that his body still refused to move, and there was a ratroach perched on the end of his bed, dripping slime as it moved toward him, its razor teeth framed by grasping mandibles that reached for his face.

Finally, his frozen throat thawed enough for a single panicked cry. Seconds later, the door burst open. Mikey had never been so happy to see Leo in his life.

“Mikey!” Leo glanced around the room, squinting into the dark. “What’s wrong?”

Forcing the words past the vise around his throat, he managed to squeak out a single word. “Ratroach!”

“Where?” Leo wasn’t wearing his katana, but he was way too uptight to ever be completely unarmed these days, and sure enough, in another instant, there was a tanto in his hand. Mikey had no idea where he’d gotten in. Probably stashed in his wraps somewhere.

“It… it was right… right….” The paralysis finally easing its stranglehold, Mikey managed to struggle to a sitting position, kicking his legs free of the blankets tangled around them. “Right…”

But the ratroach was gone.

“Let me guess,” Leo said, the knife vanishing from his hand. “You were dreaming?” But as Leo’s eyes adjusted enough to get a really good look at Mikey’s face, his irritated expression softened, and he sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey. You’re really freaked out. What is it?”

“Nah,” Mikey said, attempting to wave it off. “False alarm. I guess I just--”

An action figure toppled from his shelf. It had always been close to the edge, and Leo had probably just knocked it loose when he threw the door open, but before all that had a chance to work its way through Mikey’s brain, he’d already screamed and thrown himself at his brother, his arms wrapping tightly around Leo’s shell.

“False alarm, huh?” Leo’s smug voice drifted down from above.

“Heh. Yeah,” Mikey said weakly.

The solid weight of Leo’s hand settled against his shell. “Mikey. It’s okay. Seriously, you were just dreaming. There’s nothing here.”

“You sure it wasn’t a ghost?”

“There’s no such thing,” Leo said, and patted his shell. “But take a look for yourself.”

Glancing up at Leo’s face, Mikey was reminded of all the times he’d had nightmares when he was little. Leo may have gotten seriously bossy lately, but all Mikey could see in his face at that moment was the strength and concern Leo had always shown when they were kids. Mikey had always been so sure that there was no need to fear with Leo or Raph to protect him.

Taking a breath, not quite loosening his hold on Leo, he dared to look around the room.

Everything looked… normal. For now.

“See?” Leo said.

Sighing, Mikey pried his fingers loose from Leo’s shell and sat back, looking sheepishly up at his brother. “Sorry, Leo. It’s just... “

“What?” Leo shifted, sitting cross-legged on the bed as he watched Mikey. “What’s got you so scared?” He narrowed his eyes. “It was the horror movie we watched last night, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, that probably didn’t help. I dunno.” Mikey twisted the sheets between his hands as he considered the question. He wanted to find the right words. It was important to him that Leo really understood this time. “It’s...Everything’s been so _weird_ lately. I still don’t really get the whole Kraang robot brain thingy, but I know it’s seriously messed up, and after the whole ratroach thing, sometimes I don’t even feel safe in the lair anymore.”

Leo sighed, and his arm circled Mikey’s shoulders. Mikey laid his head on Leo’s shoulder, like he had when they were young and he needed his _niichan_ to chase away the dreams. Raph had always been good at threatening the monsters under the bed, but Leo had been the one to show him that there wasn’t actually anything there in the dark.

“Okay, so the ratroaches were pretty freaky. But we blew them up really good, right?” Leo rubbed Mikey’s head as he nodded agreement. “And you _know_ you get weird dreams when you eat too much sugar late at night.”

“Yeah,” Mikey admitted. Raising his head to meet Leo’s gaze, he grinned. “But it was _so_ worth it!”

The last cobwebs of the dream were finally shaking loose, letting the memories of the night before trickle back in to fill them. They’d always been curious about Hallowe’en, but it wasn’t until April showed up at the lair dressed as one of _them_ that they’d actually considered going up there. Not without costumes, of course -- no way they were passing up that opportunity -- and  Raph hadn’t exactly been thrilled with what Mikey had come up with for him, but the promise of candy was too much, and he’d actually put it on. Together, they’d walked the streets just like normal kids, and nobody screamed. Nobody ran away. Nobody yelled things about monsters or aliens. They just laughed and gave them candy. Sooo much candy.

Okay, so watching the scary movie marathon while they were pigging out might have been a mistake. But  seriously, how could he be scared when his family were the biggest bunch of highly-skilled, overprotective ninjas in the city? Leo was right. There really wasn’t anything to be afraid of.

“Better?” Leo asked softly.

“Better,” Mikey confirmed.

“Good!” Slipping off the bed, Leo grabbed the sheets and yanked hard. Mikey only had time to let out a yelp before he toppled to the floor. “Come on.” Leo grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. “The others already have a head start.”

“Head start where?”

Leo grinned at him, and something in that look sent a kick of adrenaline through Mikey’s system. “So where have you whined at us about going since you saw that stupid movie about the elves?”

His eyes widening, Mikey let out a high-pitched squeak. “ _Are you serious?”_ Like a shot, Mikey was off and running for the turnstiles, clearing them without even slowing down. Behind him, he heard Leo’s aggrieved “ _Mikey! Weapons!_ ” It was just enough to pull him up short, and he waited, dancing from foot to foot as Leo pounded up behind him, katana in one hand and Mikey’s nunchucks in the other.

“Some ninja,” Leo laughed, tossing him the chucks.

“Leooooo, c’mon! You’re taking forever!” He caught his weapons easily and stashed them in his belt before taking off again, leaving Leo in the dust. Leo may have been able to beat Mikey in the dojo any day, but when it came to _running_ , Mikey left them all in the dust, and he knew it. Oh, he never let Leo get too far behind. Half the fun of tonight was getting to hang with Leo on his own, even for a little while. But there was no way he was letting Leo catch up, either. As long as Mikey kept running, there was no way anything could come between him and his goal. Laughing, he practically flew up the ladder to the street, sprinting for the nearest building and clambering up the fire escape to the roof.

Ever since Donnie had figured out how to make a TV work, Mikey had known about Central Park. It was impossible to miss. Every movie, or show, or heck, even commercials set in the city seemed to come back to Central Park somehow, and for his younger self, sitting there watching with wide eyes, it had seemed like the enchanted forests in his story books come to life. There was this whole magical world sitting _right above them_ , but every time he’d asked Splinter about it, he’d gotten the same answer. _No. It is too dangerous. Perhaps when you are older._ Over the years, it had just become fact, like so many other things. Raph gets mad. Donnie’s eye twitches when you touch his stuff. Algae is green. Central Park is dangerous.

It had gotten so firmly stuck in his head that even when they’d started going topside, it hadn’t occurred to him to want to go. Not until April. Laughing, he planted his foot on the ledge and vaulted to the next building, flipping in midair and landing in a roll. Bouncing to his feet, he called back to Leo.  “Come on, slowpoke. You’re perpetuating stereotypes!” Adrenaline rushing through him, he forced himself to slow down as they approached Fifth Avenue.

April. Everything changed with April. She tilted the world and shook everything up, and when it all settled out, there was a new normal. Kraang. Pizza. Now Central Park. Sometimes it was scary, but most of the time, it was _awesome._

“So,” he said as Leo finally caught up. “Where’s everybody else?”

“I’m not sure.” Leo leaned against the ledge as he pulled out his Tphone and frowned at it. Mikey bit back the urge to laugh. Leo was smart about a whole bunch of stuff, but figuring out the new phone was driving him nuts. Last week, he’d tried to ask April to bring Splinter some uni from Murakami’s and ended up sending her a message telling her to “bite Splinter for Uruguay.” Then, while trying to disable the autocorrect, he’d gotten it stuck on Spanish, gotten frustrated, and yelled at Donnie for putting that option in in the first place, so Donnie refused to show him how to change it back. Mikey could have done it, if Leo’d asked, but he wasn’t going to volunteer the information. It was too much fun watching him send texts like “Where are huevas?” and then getting really annoyed. Cursing quietly using words Splinter probably didn’t realize Leo knew, Leo stashed his phone away and looked at the park. “In there. Somewhere.”

“So let’s go find ‘em.” Mikey said, and laughed at the look Leo gave him. “Come on! The park’s gotta be pretty much empty right now, and we’re ninjas, right? How hard is it gonna be to find two mutants and a girl in there?”

Leo followed his look out over the park. The trees rolled away from them like a dark ocean, broken here and there by lights and the promise of adventure. Mikey could see Leo’s resolve wavering, but he waited, biding his time until exactly the right moment. “C’mon Leo,” Mikey wheedled. “You really want to call Raph and tell him we’re lost?”

_Almost. Almoooost…_

Irritation flickered across Leo’s features as he turned to look at Mikey, but Mikey was ready for him. Clasping his hands beneath his chin, he drew a deep breath and hit Leo with The Eyes. Leo’s own eyes widened in response, and as Mikey held the pose with all the intensity he had, he watched Leo’s resolve splinter and crack.

_Booyakasha. Nobody outlasts The Eyes!_

“Fine.” A grin finally crossed Leo’s face as he rested a hand against Mikey’s shell. “You’re right. If two highly-trained ninja’s can’t find ‘em…” He trailed off, looking out over the trees, and the ghost of a shadow flickered across his eyes. “The park can’t be _that_ big, right?”

“Exactamundo!” Mikey crowed, leaping to the ledge. “So let’s do this thing!”

Leo grimaced. “Mikey, I will give you pizza money for a week if you promise to never say ‘exactamundo’ again.” But he followed Mikey to the ledge and beyond as they used the power lines to launch themselves into the shelter of the park.

The stretch of trees they landed in was overgrown, almost wild, and Mikey shivered as a wisp of cold air curled around his neck, brushing over the sheltered spot protected by his shell. He hurried to move closer to Leo, peering around a tree at the shadowed forest. He’d almost forgotten the dream, but the quiet of the trees, so unlike the endless background hum of the rest of the city, reminded him of just how close it was to Hallowe’en. According to one of the movies they’d watched last night, that was prime time for spooky stuff.

“Hey, Leo,” he whispered, leaning closer to his brother. “D’you think the park is haunted?”

“Psssh.” Leo reached out and rubbed Mikey’s head with a fond, exasperated smile. “Mikey, how many times do I have to tell you. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”


	35. Half-sick of Shadows (Act One, part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The turtles and April head deeper into the woods. As April reflects on some of the major changes in her life, Mikey begins to rethink the wisdom of the horror movie marathon the night before.

April shivered as a cold wind trickled like icewater down the collar of her shirt. But it was more than just the chill that raised the hair on her arms. It was the quiet prickling at the back of her neck. The sure sense that someone was watching her. Drawing her hoodie more firmly around herself, she squared her shoulders and moved deeper into the darkness. The feeling, she knew, wasn’t real. It was the same feeling she got every time she did something she knew was forbidden.

Not that her father had ever said anything specifically about this particular scenario; it had always been one of the things that she just  _knew_ growing up in New York. Don’t stick metal things in the electrical outlets. Don’t trust that traffic will stop for you. Don’t go into Central Park at night.

_ If Dad could see me now, he’d have a fit. _

She braced herself for the storm she knew was sure to follow a thought like that, but it was more an aching melancholy that swept over her than the crushing wave of grief she was used to, and it faded after a few moments, leaving her wondering once again at the circumstances that had brought her here. So many things had changed in the last couple of months. 

She glanced up as the leaves rustled overhead, and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, chasing away the last of the regret. Maybe this wasn’t so bad, all things considered. Her definition of “dangerous” had certainly shifted since her life went off the rails, and a few trees in the dark barely registered on the scale any more. As two shadows detached themselves from the foliage to drop down behind her, the grin got wider. Her definition of “safe” had changed a lot, too.

“See,” she said, though she kept her voice pitched low. “I told you nobody comes here at night.”

Before either of her companions had a chance to answer, they were bathed in a flash of light. April had a fleeting moment to register warm eyes glazing over cold and white before they moved, the nearest shadow reaching out and dragging her into the foliage in their wake. As the world caught up with her, she turned her head to watch the headlights of two bikes zip past on the path where they’d been standing. 

She felt the tension ease from the arm around her waist -- judging by the size of it and the way it had been unwittingly squeezing the air from her lungs, she was guessing Raph. The quiet snort next to her ear confirmed her suspicions. “Nobody, huh?” Raph drawled.

“Well, almost nobody.” She slipped free of him as his arm fell away, creeping back toward the path, but it looked deserted for real this time. “Come on. If the Visitors’ Centre is over there, it means we need to cross this path, but there should be lots of tree cover on the other side.”

She felt more than heard Donnie move up behind her to peer over her head, and just having him nearer eased some of her nerves. Having him around just made her feel so much  _ safer_. It made sense, given their whole dramatic, break-out-of-an-alien-prison-and-fall-out-of-a-helicopter introduction, but it was more than that, too. She caught him watching when he didn’t think she was looking, but it didn’t creep her out in the way that it did when the guys at school did it. It was kind of reassuring, actually. With her dad…gone, and her aunt away on business more often than not, it was comforting to know that someone was looking out for her. 

His Tphone beeped, and the glow of it bathed Donnie’s face as he peered at the incoming message. 

“What’s our fearless leader have to say?” Raph asked from April’s other side. 

“Where are the eggs,” Donnie replied. Exchanging a glance, both brothers erupted into a muffled fit of giggling. 

Refraining from joining them was difficult --  _ really _ difficult -- but as the oldest by a year, part of her felt that she had to maintain at least some level of responsibility, especially given how concerned she knew Splinter was. “Are you  _ ever _ going to change that back?”

“Maybe,” Donnie replied, grinning, and April couldn’t help but return it. It wasn’t her imagination. They were definitely coming easier to him when he was around her now, his earlier awkwardness and hesitation fading into a much more comfortable rapport as they spent more time together. “When it stops being funny.”

“It will never stop being funny.” Raph stepped up to the path, tilting his head as he listened for anyone or anything coming toward them. “But we should probably let him know where we are.” Between one blink and the next, he was gone. His voice drifted back from the shadows on the other side. “After a couple more messages.”

“Deal,” Donnie agreed. His move toward the path halted the second April rested her hand against his arm, and her eyes were adjusting enough that she could see him look down at her, though his expression was still shadowed. 

“You sure he doesn’t know where we’re going?” April whispered.

“Positive,” Donnie answered. “It’s not exactly hard to keep him in the dark. Trust me.” 

Smiling, April took the hand he held out to her and let him lead her into the dark on the other side of the path. There was never any question of her trusting him. Ever. If she hadn’t needed his help with her plan, she wouldn’t have let him in on her surprise, but this wasn’t something she could pull off on her own, and she’d barely gotten the question out before Donnie had enthusiastically agreed to help her. She was glad of it, too. The time they’d spent together planning this and figuring out what she’d need to pick up to help pull it off had been something she’d sorely needed. Chances to just hang out and talk to someone her own age had dropped from few to nonexistent since word of her Dad’s disappearance had gotten around the school, but the time she’d gotten to spend with Donnie had helped take a lot of the sting out of that. She was still figuring out the rest of his brothers, but talking to Donnie had been effortless from the start, even with the awkwardness.

“Will you two hurry up?” Raph’s aggrieved whisper drifted back toward them. “I’m growing moss over here.”

Donnie’s fingers tightened around hers, and she put herself completely into his hands as he tugged her along in his wake, trusting him to keep her from tripping or running into anything in the shadows beneath the trees.

Watching everyone at school pull away from her had hurt, more than a little, and she knew she’d been putting walls up in return, telling herself she was just fine on her own. She hadn’t thought she’d wanted, or needed, another friend. 

She was starting to realize how very glad she was that Donnie was determined to prove her wrong on that front.

* * *

Mikey shifted his weight out of habit, dancing from foot to foot as he tried to take it all in, but there was just so much to see, and he wanted to see _ all of it_. Leo, of course, pulled a Leo and just went to look for directions. Like a stupid sign was going to tell you how cool something was. April might be able to, but so far there was no sign of the others, and Leo hadn’t looked happy about the text he got back from Donnie. 

“Hey, Leo, what did Donnie say?”

“Under the chicken,” Leo answered cryptically, scowling as he looked at the sign. Leo said stuff Mikey didn’t really understand a lot, but this was weirder than usual. Still, given the look on Leo’s face, Mikey figured that it was probably better  _ not _ to ask for an explanation.

A noise from the trees caught Mikey’s attention, and he crept toward it, eyeing the movement in the branches. Was that a squirrel? Or maybe a raccoon. Or maybe it was a bat, which would be cool, unless it was a vampire, which would totally suck unless maybe it gave him super powers because being a ninja was cool, but being a  _ flying _ ninja would be even--

“Hey, check out the sign,” Leo said, breaking into Mikey’s train of thought. 

Mikey blinked, crashing back down to earth hard, and looked at the sign Leo was pointing at. “Turtle pond?”

“Wanna check it out?” Leo grinned. “Maybe we’ll run into a relative.”

“Ha-ha,” Mikey groaned -- since Raph wasn’t here, somebody had to keep up the tradition of ragging on Leo for his jokes -- but his curiosity was definitely piqued. Aside from Spike, they didn’t see a lot of other turtles, and he was kind of curious to see what their distant cousins looked like in real life. Running into more mutants wasn’t exactly likely, but still… He met Leo’s expectant gaze with a smile of his own. “Okay!” Tagging Leo’s shell, Mikey took off down the path. “Let’s do it!”

Racing down the trail, Mikey let Leo do the work of checking the signs for directions, saving his own attention for the park around them. This was… This was amazing. All the trees lining the path, the thin fog forming in the late-night chill, the mist that bushed against his feet, dancing away from him as he stomped in the grass -- it was just so new. He’d thought the tree in the dojo was nice, but he was starting to get what all the stories Splinter read and the shows on TV meant by  _ nature. _

Even Leo wasn’t immune. His brother had actually stopped scanning the trees for bad guys or whatever, and he was staring at the trees with some of the wonder Mikey felt reflected in his own expression. They hadn’t run into a single human, so Mikey slowed a bit, wanting to enjoy this while it lasted. 

“We have got to come here more often, Dude. This place is awesome!”

“It really is,” Leo said. “It’s like when Captain Ryan led that away mission to the paradise planet, right before they--”

“Leoooo,” Mikey groaned. “You’re gonna ruin it if you go all space nerd.”

Leo blinked at him for a second, before a mischievous grin spread across his face. “Okay then,” he said, and smacked Mikey on the arm. “Tag!”

“Hey!” Mikey laughed, but Leo put on a sudden burst of speed and pulled ahead. “Ninja tag, huh? Bro, it is so on!” Leo didn’t look back, but Mikey knew it was because Leo had no doubts that Mikey would follow, and their laughter echoed through the trees as Leo darted off into some kind of wilderness area at the side of the path. Mikey reached, straining, but though his fingers almost brushed Leo’s shell a few times, his big brother managed to keep one step ahead as they leaped off rocky outcroppings and over a winding stream. Even so, Mikey didn’t miss the fact that Leo kept glancing over his shoulder, checking to make sure they were still together. He wasn’t sure if he found that reassuring or annoying. It wasn’t like Mikey couldn’t handle the forest at night by himself -- not that he particularly wanted to, if there was a possibility of vampires -- but maybe if he sneaked off through the trees just over there, Leo might think--

Without warning, Leo skidded to a stop. Mikey smacked into him a second later, grabbing onto his shell to steady himself. Before Mikey could say anything, Leo raised a hand and pointed. 

“Mikey, look!”

About to complain about the bruising the sudden stop had left on his beautiful face, Mikey looked where Leo was pointing, and all thought of protest died away.

Up ahead, rising out of the mists, was an actual, honest-to-goodness,  _ castle. _

“Whoa…” Mikey breathed, gazing at the sight. Fog covered the pond and cloaked the castle, and with a quick glance to make sure Leo wasn’t watching, Mikey pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. It felt like they’d just travelled back in time to…to somewhere there were knights, anyway. Someplace far away from New York. Forgetting himself in his excitement, he reached out for Leo. Tugging on his brother’s hand, he ran up to the structure, looking for any open windows. Now that he’d seen it, he just  _ had _ to see inside.

But it wouldn’t hurt to have Leo along. It wasn’t that Mikey was certain that they were going to run into anything. It was just that, if there was going to be a place in the city with a witch or two living in it, it was this place. Bringing backup just made sense.

As they neared the castle, their footsteps slowed, splashing through a puddle, and the sound brought with it a memory of their childhood. A flash from a time when Mikey was constantly dragging around one of his brothers, Leo more often than not, filing the sewer tunnels with a chorus of fear and excitement as he exclaimed over some new discovery.

_ Nii-chan! Nii-chan, look! _

As Mikey let go of Leo’s hand and began to examine the castle for a way in, he hear Leo slow behind him. “Hold on, Mikey. This isn’t like the Kraang base, this is public property…”

“Oh come  _ on _ , Leo,” Mikey sighed, running his fingers around a window frame. “It’s not like we’re gonna hurt anything. And we’ll make sure it’s locked when we go.”

Mikey quickly redoubled his efforts, trying to make sure Leo didn’t have time for a sudden attack of conscience. “Sheesh,” he breathed as yet another attempt fell flat. “All those movies and comics about storming the castle were wrong. Who knew they were so tough to get into?”

“Oh, Mikey…”

Mikey flinched at the singsong call behind him. He hadn’t thought Leo would cave so  _ soon. _ “Aw, c’mon bro, we barely--”

But his protests faltered at the sight of Leo standing in front of the open castle doors, dangling a lock pick from one hand. He planted the other hand on one hip, a smug grin on his face. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

“Duuuude,” Mikey breathed. “This is the coolest thing you’ve done in…like,  _ ever. _ ”

Leo’s grin faltered a little at that. “Uh…thanks?”

“C’mon, brah, let’s  _ do  _ this!”

Planting his hands on Leo’s carapace, Mikey showed his big brother through the doors. But as the darkness closed around him, Mikey’s hands stayed firmly where they were, an echo of an old habit from when they’d explored the darkest recesses of the sewers when they were kids. 

Without warning, the door slammed shut behind them. 

Unable to hold back the high-pitched screech, Mikey had climbed halfway up Leo before his older brother managed to turn to face the doorway. Clinging tightly to Leo’s face, Mikey struggled to bring his breathing back under control. “Whawazzat?”

“Probably just the wind,” Leo said, or tried to; his voice was muffled by Mikey’s arms. With an exasperated grunt, he grabbed Mikey’s hand and yanked. “Will you get off me?”

“Yeah,” MIkey said. “Just the wind. Nothing two ninjas can’t handle, right?”

“Right,” Leo said. “Come on, let’s see what this castle is hiding.”

_ Just the wind_, Mikey repeated to himself as he followed after Leo. His big bro was right. There was nothing to be afraid of. Wind had to be a big problem in castles like this; that’s why the torches in the stories were always flickering. Made perfect sense. And if he kept telling himself that, he could ignore the fact that Leo didn’t breathe a word of protest when Mikey’s hands latched on to his carapace again.

Okay. He could admit it. Maybe the horror movies last night had been a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may come back and update this later, but I did promise a Halloween update! I've spent nine hours on planes and in airports today and I've been up since before 5 am, so I really do need to come back and give it a once-over when I can see straight, but in the meantime, Happy Halloween! I promise to do my best to make sure it doesn't take a year to write the next chapter. ;)
> 
> Man, it feels strange to be writing season 1 turtlebabies again. And weirder to be writing in third person past tense.


End file.
